Correlation of Obesity with Cardiometabolic Status among Medical University Employees in Southeast of Iran

Background: Employees are considered as an at-risk group for obesity and itsadverse outcomes, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The present studywas conducted to assess the correlation of obesity indices with CVD risk factorsamong a group of medical university employees in Zahedan city, southeast ofIran. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 211 healthy employees ofZahedan University of Medical Sciences during October 2015. Obesity indicesincluding body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to hip ratio(WHpR), and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were measured in accordance to thestandard criteria. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), blood lipids, and blood pressurewere also measured. Results: Women had significantly higher values of weight,WC, WHpR, and FBG than men (P < 0.05). Bivariate analysis showed that thosewith BMI, WC, or WHtR higher than the cut-off-point levels had significantlyhigher serum levels of blood parameters and blood pressure compared to normalparticipants, respectively. BMI and WC had significant positive correlation withall parameters except with high density lipoprotein-cholesterol; these correlationswere slightly stronger for WC compared to BMI. However, the correlation ofWHpR and WHtR with metabolic parameters was weak. Conclusions: BMI andWC had an almost moderate correlation with CVD risk factors among theparticipants. Therefore, using WC along with BMI is suggested as the preferredmethod for assessment of CVD risk factors.

Keywords:

Obesity , Waist circumference , Blood glucose , Lipoproteins , Blood pressure