Body Fat Percentage and Body Mass Index for Students and Staff of the College of Nursing/ Hawler Medical University

Abstract

Background and objectives: The finding of an association between health and body composition mandated the necessity for frequent testing of body composition for all. These studies aimed to analyses body fat percentage and body mass index and identify the relationship between results of both tests for nursing students and staff working in the College of Nursing, Hawler Medical University. Methods: In this study two samples were recruited: 158 students (111 females and 47 males) and 112 staff (51 females and 61 males). Body weight was measured and body mass index was determined. Body fat percentage was measured by Omron HBF 306 CN. The data were analyzed by Social Package for Social Sciences version 22, T-test and correlation coefficients were used (p value≤ 0.05 was considered significant). Results: Mean body mass index of students in both genders were within normal range (23.4 for male and 22.9for female), while that of the staff in both genders was in the overweight range (27.2 for male and 28.4 for female). The mean body fat percentage in students was normal in both genders, while that of the staff was high. There is proportion of low body fat percentage and absence of very high body fat percentage in students against considered proportion of very high body fat percentages in staff; also the levels of body mass index were inconsistent with the levels of body fat percentage in both samples. There was statistically significant moderate positive correlation between body mass index and body fat percentage in both samples. Conclusion: Body mass index could not indicate the same body fat percentage. Keywords: Body mass index, Adipose tissue, Association, Iraq