ABSTRACT

Background and Aim: Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that is endangering an increasing number healthy populations. Obesity is caused by a sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary habits. Although numerous studies on obesity effects on cardiovascular parameters (CVP) are existing, associations between obese and non-obese people are limited. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the indicators for obesity and compared obese and non-obese association with cardiovascular parameters.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 80 subjects in the Department of Physiology, Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi in collaboration with Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi for duration of six months i.e from January 2020 to June 2021. All the subjects were divided into obese group-I and non-obese group-II. Each group consisted of 40 subjects. Individuals with body mass index 18 to 25 Kg/m2 and >26 Kg/m2 were considered as obese and non-obese respectively. Informed consent and ethical approval were taken from each individual and hospital ethical committee respectively. All the subjects (BMI> 26 Kg/m2) with medical issues specifically cardio-respiratory and smokers were excluded. Quetelet’s index and Vernier Caliper was used for physical examination and triceps skinfold girth (TSG). SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. 

Results: Of the total 80 subjects, the study and control group had 40 subjects each. The overall mean age was 41.31±2.3 years. The mean value of body mass index in the study and control group was 34.6±5 Kg/m2 and 23.4±1.2 Kg/m2 respectively. Mean weight, body mass index, waist circumference (WC), and triceps skin girth (TSG) were found significantly higher in the study group as compared to the control group whereas study group subjects had lower height than the control group (p<0.005). Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP) were significantly higher in the study group as compared to control group subjects considering 0.0005 level of significance, however, pulse rate (PR) was insignificant in the study group (0.05). Cardiovascular parameters were found significant and positive in the study group only with a 0.05 level of significance on Pearson’s Correlation.

Conclusion: Our study found that shorter height with accelerated pulse rate subjects was prone to cardiovascular diseases. Also, short height with a higher pulse rate is obesity's best indicator correlating in obese or study group. Additionally, obesity has a significant association with subject lipid profile which may elevate the potential risk for cardiovascular disease development.