The Effect of Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference on Blood Pressure

This study was aimed at determining the pattern of some assessors of obesity including body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) and the effect of these parameters on blood pressures in the studied population. The sample consisted of three hundred and fifty (350) undergraduate female students of Delta State University, Abraka, Delta State Nigeria, with ages between 18-26 years. The study showed that 32.56% were overweight and while over 10.00% were obese. A total of 6.39% were undernourished and there was a recorded steady rise in blood pressure as the BMI increased. The BMI was observed to correlate positively with both systolic and diastolic blood pressures (p < 0.01; 0.23, 0.18) with an observed significant correlation between WC and both diastolic (DBP) and systolic blood pressures (SBP) (p < 0.01; 0.25, 0.26). Both systolic and diastolic pressures showed a significant relationship with WC and this correlation was significant at 0.01 levels of significance. This study further established that BMI and WC were significantly correlated with DBP and SBP. These non invasive parameters are therefore reliable indicators of obesity and associated hypertension.