Increasing burden of abdominal obesity in females and its aftermaths

ABSTRACT

Obesity is now recognized as one of the major public health issues all over the world. In Pakistan, it is a “silent epidemic” striking significantly because we are still struggling with health and economic burdens of malnutrition, infectious diseases and high infant mortality rates. In epidemiological studies age, sex and ethnic background all have to be taken into consideration, particularly when determining the health risk with obesity.Females are more vulnerable to be affected by obesity related health issues. Body Mass Index [BMI] is a surrogate measure of assessing obesity in terms of height and weight. It does not give any insight into regional body fat distribution. BMI is not a reliable measurement of body composition in individuals particularly in females having high body fat, rather more specifically it is excess abdominal fatness, quantified by waist circumference measurement, which is a better considered measure for assessing abdominal obesity in females