Nutritional status and random blood glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride test among Malaysian Army (MA) personnel in Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

With the rising trend of obesity among the general population, it is also important to assess the obesity and health status among military population. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Malaysian Army (MA) personnel as well as the relationship between selected socio-demographics factors, antropometric profiles, body composition and random blood test value. A cross sectional study involving 378 male military personnel aged between 20 to 48 years old was conducted at two MA bases in Kuala Lumpur between November and December 2012. Antropometric measurements included height, weight and waist circumference (WC). Body fat percentage was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis method (Tanita TBF-300A). Mean height, weight, BMI, WC, body fat percentage, age, monthly income and duration of service were 1.71 ± 0.6 m, 71.7 ± 12.2 kg, 24.6 ± 4.1 kg/m2, 87.0 ± 10.0 cm, 23.4 ± 6.6%, 29.1 ± 5.5 years, RM 2115.12 ± 860.70 and 9.9 ± 5.6 years respectively. According to WHO (1998) classification of BMI, 3.2% of the subjects were underweight, 54.8% normal, 32.8% overweight and 9.3% obese. It was obeserved that 40.2% of the subjects had waist circumference value of 90 cm or more and were considered high risk for diebetes and cardiovascular diseases. This study found that BMI was highly correlated with weight (r=0.925, p<0.05), WC (r=0.852, p<0.05) and body fat percentage. Body fat percentage also show high correlation with weight (r=0.759, p<0.05) and WC (r=0.768, p<0.05. The result from 173 of 378 subjects that were selected for random blood test found that 4.6%, 3.5% and 26.0% had diabetes, high cholesterol and high triglyceride respectively. There was a weak correlation between random blood glucose level with weight (r=0.221, p<0.05), BMI (r=0.243, p<0.05), WC (r=0.298, p<0.05), body fat percentage (r=0.163, p<0.05) and age (r=0.223, p<0.05). Random blood cholesterol level had significant correlation with weight (r=0.284, p<0.05), BMI (r=0.260, p<0.05), WC (r=0.362, p<0.05) and body fat percentage (r=0.313, p<0.05). It was also noted that random blood triglyceride level was significantly correlated with weight (r=0.223, p<0.05), BMI (r=0.312, p<0.05), WC (r=0.288, p<0.05), body fat percentage (r=0.287, p<0.05) and age (r=0.268 p<0.05). These results call for attention to the existence of overweight and obesity as well as the risk of non-communicable diseases among military population. Therefore, future intervention from the aspect of nutritional education and health awareness can benefit thus optimizing the health status of MA military personnel.