RESUMO
Obesity is a well known risk factor of metabolic complications and cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, associations between anthropometric measurements and fat distribution and risk factors for cardiovascular disease have been demonstrated in several populations. The aim of this study was to examine the association of various measures of adiposity including total body adiposity [Body mass index [BMI], and percentage body fat [%BF]] and body fat distribution [waist, hip, wrist and thigh circumference.] with lipid profile and fasting blood glucose in young Sudanese females [18-22 years old]. A total of 224 female medical students were enrolled in the study. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height, waist, wrist, thigh and hip circumference] and skin fold thickness were performed. Body mass index [kg/m[2]], percentage body fat and waist/hip ratio [WHR] were calculated. Subjects with BMI >30 kg/m[2] were considered as obese [n=64], while subjects with BMI < 24.9 - >18.5 kg/m[2] were considered as non-obese [n=114]. Subjects who were overweight with BMI 25-29.9 Kg/ m[2] [n=36] and those who are underweight BMI < 18.5Kg/ m[2]. [n=10] were excluded from the study. Blood pressure was measured for all participants. Biochemical parameters, including total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol [HDL-C], low density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C], triglycerides [TG] and fasting blood glucose were estimated. All anthropometric measurements except the height showed higher records among obese than in non-obese females [P <0.05]. The mean +/- SEM of BMI was found to be 20.6 +/- 0.21 kg/m[2] and 36.1 +/- 0.56 kg/m[2] for non-obese and obese females respectively. It was significantly higher in obese females [P <0.01]. Classification of participants by the% BF obtained by skinfold thickness increased the percentage of obesity among the participants more than classification based on BMJ. Decreased WHR was attributed mainly to increase hip circumference [HC] in the study participants. Blood pressure was measured for all participants and it was high in 21.8% of obese females. Fasting blood glucose was found to be normal in all participants. The study showed that there were higher values of lipid profile parameters in obese compared to the non-obese females but all values were within the normal physiological ranges. The majority of the studied obese females had normal blood pressure, normal fasting blood glucose and normal lipid profile; accordingly they were metabolically healthy but obese [MHO]. This was attributed to their low visceral adipose tissues indicated by the low WHR