Relationship between certain obesity indices and risk of chronic medical conditions in a population sample of Zawia city

The body mass index, waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio have a linear relation with increasing the diseases. The aim of the current study was to find the better anthropometric measure to relate with chronic health conditions and their associated socio-demographic correlates in a population sample of Zawia city. A total of 211 (92 men and 119 women) between the ages of 30 and 85 years participated in this study. Participants were permanent residents in Zawia city. Anthropometric measurements include weight (kg), height (cm), waist circumference (cm), and hip circumference (cm) measured at the time of the interview. Body mass index was calculated as weight divided by height squared (kg/m2) while WHR was determined by dividing waist circumference by hip circumference. Participants provided information on their socio-demographic details and chronic health conditions. Blood samples (10 ml) were collected from each participant after an overnight fast and lipid profiles of all individuals were measured. The number of participants in all age groups were 35 (30-39), 53 (40-49), 76 (50-59) and 47 (60 and above) in the study sample. The overall prevalence of obesity and overweight was 50.71% and 43.12%, respectively, while normal weight was 15.71%, and high WHR was 65.40% (n=138). Prevalence of chronic health conditions in study sample was 27.01% diabetes, 26.06% hypertension, and 8.05% heart problems. The results showed that age group had no significant relationship (P=0.679) with BMI levels, while a significant relationship (P=0.011) between the age group and WHR was found. Multiple logistic regressions showed that participants who were oldest (60+) were more likely to have high WHR as compared to participants who were in younger groups. In addition, the odds ratio with a high WHR is 2.46 times more likely to get diabetes than a low WHR. Key words: Body mass index, waist-hip ratio, chronic medical conditions, Zawia city.