MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD PRESSURE AND BMI AMONG OVERWEIGHT, UNDERWEIGHT AND NORMAL WEIGHT MEDICAL STUDENTS OF AMU ALIGARH, U.P, INDIA: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is known as a silent killer. Early detection is the key to successful management and treatment of hypertension. In maximum studies, higher BMI has been associated with an increased risk of elevated blood pressure. Weight-related problems have been detected in various university students in earlier studies. Themedical students were found to be at a higher risk due to their sedentary lifestyle and other factors. The present study was undertaken to measure the blood pressure and BMI of undergraduate medical students and to detect the correlation between them.Methods: 230 undergraduate Unani medical students were enrolled in the current study, and their information was evaluated. The subsequent variables were measured: height (m), weight (kg), and BMI (kg/m2).Results: 68 males and 82 females had normal BMIs of 22.29 ± 2.03 and 21.50 ± 1.97 kg/m2, respectively (p = 0.001). 13.04% and 21.73% of participants were found to be overweight and underweight, respectively. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of subjects in the normal weight category were determined to be 120.13 ± 7.53/ 79.71 ± 4.17 respectively in males and 112.80±5.76/75.54±5.34 females (p = 0.05). Students were found to be normotensive, pre- hypertensive, and hypertensive in males 66.66%, 27.77%, and 5.55% and 75.71%, 21.42% and 2.85% of female cases, respectively. Both in males and females, a significant positive correlation of BMI was discovered with SBP and DBP. In the current survey, a higher percentage of men (5.55%) were determined to be obese as compared to women (2.85%).Conclusion: There are weight-related concerns and associated complications like elevated blood pressure in medical students having elevated levels of BMI.