Background: Obesity is identified as a complex multifactorial disorder and a notable growing global problem. Body fat percentage (BFP) is more reliable method as compared to BMI for assessing the risk of developing disease. Essential hypertension and Type-2 diabetes mellitus are both associated with adiposity.
Aims & Objective: In this study, we planned to observe the association, if any, of raised BFP levels in strict-vegetarians and comparatively analyzed with non-vegetarians in context to the indicated diseases.
Materials and Methods: After getting approval from ethical review committee of the Aga Khan University for this Random, Cross sectional and population based study, 563 subjects were selected randomly (males 295, females 268, strict-vegetarians n= 324 (58.0%), non-vegetarian n=235 (42.0%) in 2012 from Tharparker, Pakistan. We recorded demographic and anthropometric data, presence of blood pressure, type-2 diabetes mellitus and co-morbidities. Analysis of BFP was carried out by Deurenberg formula. Level of BFP >20 in males and > 25 in females was taken as raised/abnormal. Data was analyzed descriptively and categorically by using SPSS-21 for comparative analysis of prevalence of the essential hypertension (EHTN) and Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Comparative analysis of association of raised levels of BFP was carried out in context to EHTN and T2DM in vegetarian and non-vegetarian population. A p-Value of < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Vegetarian subjects, n= 324 (58.0%), showed minimum age as 15 years; maximum 82 (mean 39.6, Std. Deviation 16.6). Non-vegetarian subjects, n= 235 (42.0%), had minimum age 10 years; maximum 76 years (mean 33.7, Std. Deviation 15.5). More male subjects had raised BFP (270 = 94.7%) than females (129 = 49%), p-Value 0.000. Despite positive association of raised BFP levels with EHTN and T2DM, the comparative analysis of association of raised BFP levels among the vegetarian and non-vegetarian cohort in relation to both EHTN and T2DM showed non-significant p-Values (0.105 and 0.347 respectively).
Conclusion: Raised body fat percentage in the strict-vegetarian and non-vegetarian cohorts showed a non-significant association to produce essential hypertension and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Findings point to some other risk factors which could be responsible to produce the disease in the studied cohorts. Doing exercise and reducing caloric intake is strongly advised as the best measure to maintain a normal phenotype.
Key words: Body Fat Percentage; Deurenberg Formula; Essential Hypertension; Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; Vegetarian; Non-Vegetarian
Introduction
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