Prevalence of hypertension and obesity in a rural district of Pakistan

A high prevalence of hypertension, obesity ond cardiovascular disease in urban and immigrant Pakistanis is generally attributed to their changed lifestyle. However, no studies have reported the prevalence of these conditions in the large rural population of Pakistan, from where immigrants have often originated, and where the traditional lifestyle is still followed. We, therefore, studied the prevalence of [and factors associated with] obesity and hypertension in this population group. Age, sex, occupation, smoking status, weight, height, waist, hip circumference and blood pressure were recorded in all subjects > 25 years in this typical village of Punjab, Pakistan. Of 470 subjects, 35% smoked, twenty were hypertensive [4.3%] and 30 were sedentary [6.4%]. Nine [1.9%] had body mass index [BMI] >= 30 kg/m[2], 28 [5.9%] BMI of 25-29 kg/m[2] and 134 [28.5%] BMI<18.5 kg/m[2]. Blood pressure significantly and positively correlated with BMI, waist, hip and waist/hip ratio. Sedentary individuals were more likely to be young, obese and have higher blood pressure. Although obesity and hypertension were not common, the small number of sedentary individuals were more likely to suffer from them. These findings are relevant in prevention and management of obesity/ hypertension in urban and immigrant Pakistanis

Fasting blood glucose, blood pressure and obesity in nurses from Pakistani Hospitals

Type 2 diabetes mellitus [DM] is more common in Asians than White Caucasians. The relationship between type 2 DM, hypertension and obesity has not been well studied in urban Pakistanis. We report prevalence of these conditions and factors associated with them in urban Pakistani nurses. Cross sectional study. 337 nurses aged 20-60 years from three hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan had their fasting capillary blood glucose, blood pressure and indices of obesity documented. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated for blood pressure and fasting blood glucose. Factors associated with hyperglycaemia and hypertension were studied with Student's t-test and forward step regression. P