European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PREVALENCE OF PREHYPERTENSION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH OBESITY MARKERS IN YOUNG INDIAN ADULTS

Purushottam Pramanik*

ABSTRACT

High blood pressure (BP) is a growing global public health problem. Hypertension (HT) and obesity are threatening facts of public health. Thus it is lifesaving to carryout BP and obesity measurements for early detection of cardiovascular risks. Prehypertension (PreHT) predicts the individuals who entertain a risk of HT. Thus the aim of this study was to determine prevalence of PreHT and its association with obesity markers.This cross sectional survey was conducted in semi urban college students of West Bengal, India. The anthropometric and BP measurements were carried out on 1653 (males-655 and females-998) students. General obesity was estimated from body mass index (BMI), Central obesity from waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and upper body obesity from neck circumference (NC) and neck-to-height ratio (NHtR). Body height, weight, WC, NC and BP were measured by standard methods. BMI, WHtR and NHtR were estimated. Pearson’s correlation was done to determine correlation between BP and anthropometric indices. Percentiles of BMI, NC, WC, NHtR and WHtR and prevalence of PreHT were determined. P<0.05 values were considered as statistically significant. The overall prevalence of PreHT was 20% and it was 25% for males and 19% for females. Prevalence of PreHT was significantly higher in male than their female counterpart. All the obesity markers are positively correlated with BP. Correlation coefficient of NC with BP was higher than all other correlation coefficient. All the indices above 85th percentile values may be consider as predictors for PreHT. Out of three obesity markers, NC was the best marker for early Prediction of PreHT risks among young Indian adults.

Keywords: Prehypertension, BMI, neck circumference, waist circumference, neck-to-height ratio, waist-to-height ratio.