RESUMO
A cross sectional study of 136 women age group40-55 years was conducted to study which anthropometric measure had the strongest association with cardiovascular disease risk factors in middle aged women. In accordance with their BMI measurement subjects were divided into three groups namely:Normal weight (Group1) BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2, Overweight (Group2) – 25 kg/m2 – 29.9 kg/m2, Obese (Group3) – BMI > 30 kg/ m2. Each group was further divided into premenopausal and postmenopausal women BMI, WHR, WHtR, SBP, DBP were recorded. TG, TC, HDL and FBS values were estimated. Results showed that both pre and post menopausal middle aged obese women with higher BMI, WHR and WHtR have more chances of having cardiovascular diseases. BMI, WHR and WHtR are theeasy and practical methods to diagnose obesity and together can be used as simple measures to predict cardiovascular risk factors in middle aged women.