A study of overweight and obesity and its association with blood pressure levels amongst females of Bathinda, Punjab

Research Question: To determine the frequency of overweight and obesity and its association with blood pressure levels in females of both rural and urban areas of Bathinda district of Punjab. Settings and design: Hospital based study design Participants: 1273 females in the age group 21 – 60 years were examined. 616 were from the rural population and 657 were from the urban population. Methodology: Subjects selected were patients or their attendants visiting various OPDs at Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda. A questionnaire was used to study each subject to provide information regarding age, sex, residence, previous history of disease etc. Quetelet Index was determined by calculating the ratio of weight (in kg) to height (in meters square), to represent the Body Mass Index as a measure of overweight and obesity. Blood pressure was measured and hypertensive patients classified as per the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation and treatment of high blood pressure, JNC VII. Statistical analysis was carried out by Student’s paired‘t’-test. The data was expressed as mean ± SD and the p value < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The frequency of overweight and obesity was 9.6% and 15.1% amongst urban and rural females respectively. Over weight and obese urban females (63) had statistically highly significant elevated blood pressure levels (p<0.001) than non overweight and obese females from the same population. Similar results were obtained when blood pressure levels of overweight and obese rural females (93) were compared with non obese females of the same populations.