ABSTRACT
Background: Obesity is known to cause a number of life style diseases. In spite of this, the developed and developing world is faced with increasing number of people with high Body fat. In the present study we evaluated the correlation of Heart rate variability with the anthropometric parameters depicting body fat among young students recruited from our Medical school. Materials and methods: Two hundred and forty medical students (120 males & 120 females) were selected on the basis of their BMI into four groups: viz. Normal (N), Underweight (UW), Overweight (OW) & Obese (OB), [n=30 each]. Their Lean Body Mass (LBM), W/H ratio were calculated and tabulated, their HRV was recorded for 5 minutes and both time domain and frequency domain analysis was done. Results: The body fat was significantly higher in OW and OB groups as reflected in increased W/H ratio and lower LBM. (p<0.001) and significantly lesser in the UW group. But women showed significantly more W/H ratio and lesser LBM compared to men in the same group (p<0.01). Cardiac autonomic control represented by HRV showed significant reduction in the OW and Obese groups (p<0.01). HRV parameters were significantly lower in Underweight subjects when compared to Normal subjects. Conclusions: The HRV parameters showed a sympathetic predominance as the body fat increases. Females showed higher Body fat content compared to men. Therefore the treatment strategy should involve in weight reduction and diet control in vulnerable subjects and sustained physical exercise regimen may be prescribed to prevent the possible cardiovascular and endocrine disorders which they are prone. Key words: BMI, LMB, Waist hip ratio, Heart rate variability.
ABSTRACT
Obesity and abnormal nourishment are the biggest concerns of developed and developing societies. We analysed the nutritional status using Mini Nutrition Assessment (MNA) and correlated the findings with BMI, Waist – to – Hip (W/H) ratio in elderly population of Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka. Total of 221 elderly subjects above the age of 50 years (105 were males and 116 were females) were recruited, who did not have any morbid diseases. Their Anthropometric parameters namely BMI and W/H were recorded and tabulated. They were grouped into Underweight, Normal, Over weight and Obese and the respective numbers were segregated and shown in table. MNA scores of each group were found out and the correlation was done. Results were analysed by using ANOVA and Tukey – Kramer test using SPSS version 16. The results suggested that there is a correlation between the BMI, W/H ratio with the MNA scores. Underweight elderly had low scores while overweight and obese subjects had higher scores. Women showed a higher tendency to become over weight and obese compared to men. This study reiterates that there is a correlation between anthropometric parameters and the nutritional status. A wider study with more number of subjects could yield more insight into the findings and be useful guide for suggesting any lifestyle modification.