Prevalence of obesity and correlation among various obesity indices among security personnel in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi

Background: Obesity represents a growing public health concern worldwide, and certain occupational groups, such as security personnel, face a heightened risk. Aims: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess how common obesity is among the subjects and to analyse the relationship between different measures of obesity among 356 security personnel in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi. Methodology. The study assessed indices such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR), Waist Circumference (WC), Conicity Index (CI), and Waist Stature Ratio (WSR), using both WHO and Asia-Pacific guidelines. Results: The study revealed that 41.6% of the security personnel were overweight, while 7.3% were obese according to WHO criteria. In contrast, based on Asia-Pacific criteria, 49.2% were obese. Females exhibited a higher prevalence of obesity than males, with significant gender disparities in WC, WHR, and CI. WHR showed a total prevalence of 77.2%, while WSR indicated that 64.9% were obese. CI demonstrated a positive correlation with WC and WHR, while WSR was strongly correlated with all indices. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of using multiple obesity indices to assess obesity among security personnel comprehensively. These findings emphasise the need for targeted interventions to address obesity in this occupational group, which could reduce the risk of obesity-related health conditions.