European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS OF OBESITY: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Mouli S., Kowsalya R.*, Sivasankaran S. M. and Balaji A.

ABSTRACT

Obesity is caused by lifestyle changes, which in turn induce a number of non-communicable chronic diseases. An optimum instrument for measuring obesity and detecting obesity-related problems early is needed. Body mass index (BMI) alone is not an appropriate tool for measuring obesity. Several anthropometric measures, such as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), skinfold thickness (SFT), and bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) should be included with BMI for early detection of obesity and obesity-related problems such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular problems, and chronic kidney diseases. An ideal tool must be simple to use, provide more accurate results, and be feasible. Several studies have been conducted across the world to find out the suitable instrument for measuring obesity and obesity-related health problems.The present review analyses the relationship between the anthropometric measures and the medical conditions related to overweight and obesity.

Keywords: Obesity, Body Mass index, Waist-to-hip ratio, Waist-to-height ratio.