Anthropometric Measureme nts, Dietary Intake and Lipid Profile of Hypertensive Young Adults (25-35 years): A Comparison Between Vegetarians and Non Vegetarians

Abstract

Increasing prevalence of hypertension is a major health concern.Dietary habits and food choices play an important role in maintaining lipid levels.The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of dietary habits on lipid profile of young adult hypertensive males. Two hundred vegetarians (V) and two hundred non vegetarians (NV) stage I hypertensive young adult men from age group 25-35 yrs. Anthropometric indices like weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were computed using standard equations. 24 hour’s food intake data for each subject was collected for consecutive 3 days and energy and energy yielding nutrients were computed. Total cholesterol (T-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) levels were estimated. Very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) was computed using standard equation.Insignificant difference was noticed between V and NV for BMI, WC and HC. In contrast, MUAC of NV was found to be significantly higher than V. NV had higher mean daily intake of energy, protein and fat but low mean daily consumption of carbohydrate as compared to V.NV had higher mean values of systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p>0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (0.01<p<0.05) than V. 30% NV were obese grade II. TC and LDL-C of NV were greater than V but HDL-C and TG of V were greater than NV (p>0.05). TC, LDL-C and VLDL-C among NV correlated positively (p<0.01) with body weight (r 0.5340, 0.4841 and 0.5921, respectively). Stronger relationships existed between HDL-C and body weight among both groups. BP, BMI and MUAC were more among NV than V. V showed better lipid profile than NV. This could be attributed to higher intake of energy and fat among NV.