BMI, BMR, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio as major indices to effect blood pressure

Pages: 1062-1065
Soubia Malik, Naima Afzal, Ayesha Javed and Sadaf Ahmed (Department of Physiology, University of Karachi, Pakistan)

Body Mass Index (BMI), basal metabolic rate (BMR), Waist circumference (WC) and Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are frequently used indices to categorize underweight, overweight and obese individuals along with the characteristics like basal body conditions, and the proportion of fat stored on the body. Blood pressure within the arteries can be altered with the changes in these indices that may be an alarm of Hypertension or other cardiovascular harms. The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of BMI, BMR, Waist circumference and Waist to hip ratio on Blood pressure & how these parameters alter the blood pressure of normal human subjects. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 100 respondents (93% non-married) selected from Karachi and sample type is stratified random sampling, stratum is based on age i.e. 20-30 years. The respondent’s demographic information and physical information; age, sex, marital status, level of education, weight, height, BMI, Waist circumferences, hip circumferences, blood pressure, BMR and waist/hip ratio were recorded. Data entries and data analysis were done using SPSS 16.0. BMI has a profound effect on WHR, waist circumference, and BMR and it was observed that an increase in the value of BMI results in increase WHR, waist circumference and BMR, hence establishing direct relation. However, increased BMI raises the systolic pressure & diastolic pressure; the same results are obtained for WHR, Waist circumference and BMR, as these are directly related to BMI.