Body mass index is a reliable predictor of insulin resistance than body fat percentage

Abstract

Background: Obesity leads to insulin resistance (IR) which is the core pathophysiology of lifestyle diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Commonly used indices determining obesity and therefore IR are body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%). BMI and BF% are, therefore, predictors of IR. However, there is contention as to which between BMI and BF% is a better predictor of IR. Aims and Objectives: This study aims at finding out which is a better predictor of IR between BMI and BF%. Materials and methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study conducted on 50 urban sedentary adults. After obtaining informed consent for the study, fasting blood sample was collected from selected participants for estimating fasting blood glucose and plasma insulin which are useful in deriving homeostatic model assessment IR for IR. This was followed by the measuring of anthropometric data from which BMI was derived. BF% was measured by dual X-ray Absorbsiometry. Results: Analysis and comparison of variables revealed a meaningful relationship between BMI and IR than with BF%. Pearson’s correlation also demonstrated a stronger association between BMI and IR than with BF%. Conclusion: BMI is a better and a reliable predictor of IR than BF%.