Correlation of body fat percentage, fat mass index, and fat-free mass index with cardiovascular parameters in non-obese young adults

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a growing health problem worldwide across all age groups and is associated with a number of disease conditions out of which cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome are prominent. Body composition parameters such as body fat percentage (BF%), fat mass (FM), FM index (FMI), fat-free mass (FFM), and FFM index (FFMI) are better indicators of body composition than body mass index which is conventionally used to define and assess obesity and are found to be correlating with cardiovascular risk parameters in different populations but study is limited in number and needs further research. Aims and Objectives: The present study aimed at finding out any correlation between BF%, FM, FMI, FFM, and FFMI with cardiovascular parameters such as systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) in non-obese young adults. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 150 non-obese student volunteers were included after due approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Standardized instruments were used to record anthropometric measurements such as height and weight. Bioelectric Impedance Analysis Technique (Omron HBF-306 Body Fat Monitor) was used to measure BF%. FM, FFM, FMI, and FFMI were calculated using standard formulae. Clarity Med. PMS 320 cardiac monitor was used to record blood pressure and HR. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS statistical software (version 24). Karl Pearson’s coefficient was used to study linear relation between BF%, FM, FMI, FFM, FFMI, and cardiovascular variables such as SBP, DBP, MAP, and HR. Correlation was considered significant at 0.05 level (two tailed). Results: FFM showed fair positive correlation with SBP, DBP, and MAP (r value 0.490, 0.255, and 0.390, respectively). FFMI also showed fair positive correlation with blood pressure variables with r values for SBP – 0.482, DBP – 0.228, and MAP – 0.369. Positive correlation was also observed for FM and FMI with SBP, DBP, and MAP. Positive correlation but poor strength of association was found between BF% and SBP, DBP, MAP, and HR. Conclusion: In non-obese young adults in both sexes, FFM, FFMI, FM, and FMI showed positive correlation with cardiovascular variables such as SBP, DBP, and MAP with FFM and FFMI having highest positive correlation whereas BF% showed poor strength of association with the cardiovascular variables.