Prevalence of obesity and the correlation between different indices of obesity among healthy Sri Lankans

Abstract

With the rising prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) in the developing world, obesity becomes an important component in risk stratification. Different indicators of obesity include body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (JVC), waist hip ratio (WHR) and triceps skin fold thickness (TSFT). A study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of global and central obesity among healthy Sri Lankan cohort and to assess the correlation of body mass index with other indices of obesity. Anthropometric measurements including body mass index, waist circumference, waist hip ratio and triceps skin-fold thickness were obtained from 48 healthy volunteers. Prevalence of global obesity was defined as BMI more than 23 kg/m2 and central obesity as WC more than 90 cm for male and more than 80 for female, WHR more than 0.9 for male and more than 0.8 for female. Correlation of BMI with other parameters of obesity was calculated using Pearson correlation. The prevalence of global obesity was significantly high in females (60%) when compared to males (28%). Central obesity according to WC was 16%> in males and 43.4% in females. The prevalence of central obesity according to WHR was 12% in males and 73% in females. There was a strong association between BMI with WC (r =0.71, p = 0.001) and TSFT (r = 0.76, p=0.001) but the association with WHR was poor (r = 0.33, p = 0.21). Out of the three anthropometric measurements assessed, WC and TSFT were found to be good indicators of global obesity. Although, WHR had higher sensitivity of detecting central obesity in females, it was not a reliable indicator of global obesity