Adiposity measures and their relationship with metabolic risk factors for coronary heart disease in Bengalee Hindu men of Kolkata, India

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of generalized and central adiposity with established metabolic risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) among Bengalee Hindu men of Kolkata, India. A cross-sectional study of 212 Bengalee Hindu men resident in Kolkata, India, was undertaken utilizing four measures of adiposity: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and conicity index (CI). Total cholesterol (TC), high density (HDL-C), low density (LDL-C) and very low density (VLDL-C) cholesterol lipoproteins, fasting blood glucose (FBG) and fasting triglyceride (FTG) levels were recorded. Results revealed that BMI did not have significant correlation with any of the metabolic variables. The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) of the central adiposity measures (WC, WHR and CI) were similar. WC, WHR and CI were significantly correlated (except WC and TC) with TC, VLDL-C, FBG and FTG. However, HDL-C and LDL-C did not show significant correlation with WC, WHR and CI. Regression analyses revealed that WC, WHR and CI had significant impact on TC, VLDL-C, FBG and FTG. All three measures of central adiposity had similar effect. This significant effect remained essentially the same even after controlling for BMI. In conclusion, the present investigation revealed that among Bengalee Hindu men, any one of these three measures (WC, WHR and CI) can be used in cross-sectional epidemiological studies dealing with the relationship of central adiposity and metabolic risk factors for CHD.