Abstract

Prevalence of general, abdominal and waist-to-hip ratio obesity among adults in the north of Iran: An ethnical comparative study

Author(s):Gholamreza Veghari, Mehdi Sedaghat, Samieh Banihashem, Pooneh Moharloei, Abdolhamid Angizeh, Ebrahim Tazik, Abbas Moghaddami, Khadijeh Kordi, Mohammad Reza Honarvar

Obesity has remained as a main health problem and substantially increased during the last decade. The aim of this study is the comparison of obesity, central obesity and WHR obesity in 15-70 years old between Turkman and non- Turkman ethnic groups in Golestan Province (north of Iran) in 2013. This was a cross-sectional study on 464 cases (Turkman =166 and non-Turkman=298) who were chosen randomly from 23 clusters. Individuals with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of <25, 25.0-29.9, 30-39.9 and ≥40 kg/m2 were classified as normal, overweight, obese and pathologic obese. Central obesity was defined by waist circumference of WC > 102 cm in men and >88 cm in women. WHR (Waist-to-Hip Ratio) ≥ 0.95 cm and ≥0.8 cm was classified as WHR obesity for men and women, respectively. Totally, General obesity and overweight were seen in 30.0% and 28.2% of subjects, respectively. In non-Turkman group, obesity was statistically significant between genders (men=19.4% and women=43.9%)(P=0.001) whereas it was not significant in Turkman group (men=16.4% vs women=30.0%). Central obesity was common in 40.7% of cases with a significant difference between genders (men=22.9% vs women=54.4%) (P=0.001). Compared to Turkman men and women, the prevalence of central obesity was 12% and 19.2% more in non-Turkman group, respectively (P=0.003). In the whole, WHR obesity was common in 62.7% and 63.1% of men and women, respectively. Odds ratio for general obesity and central obesity were 2.791 and 4.021 times more in women than in men, respectively. Compared to Turkman women, odds ratio has obtained 1.826(P=0.025) for general obesity and 2.096 (P=0.004) for central obesity in non-Turkman women. Pearson correlation between age and BMI, WC and WHR was seen (r=0.478, P=0.01), (r=0.596, P=0.01) and (r=0.385, P=0.01), respectively. Finally, obesity, central obesity and WHR obesity are the main health problem in the north of Iran and it was common in non-Turkman more than in Turkman groups.

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