Association of various measurements of obesity and the prevalence of hypertension

Objective: To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio and waist circumference with the prevalence of hypertension in a representative sample of 1088 adults of Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, subjects were considered as having hypertension if they had systolic blood pressure > or = 160 mmHg or diastolic > or = 90 mmHg, and were considered obese if they had BMI > or = 27 kg/m2, or had a waist-hip-ratio > or = 0.95 cm (men) or 0.80 (women) or had a waist circumference > or = 96 (men) or 92 (women).

Results: Obesity defined by the BMI was associated with hypertension in both genders (RR 1.9, CI 1.0-3.2 in men; RR 2.2, CI 1.3-3.8 in women). The other indices were significantly associated with hypertension just in women.

Conclusions: BMI > or = 27.0 kg/m2 was strongly associated with increased odds to have hypertension. Similar magnitude of the association with the other indices indicate their utility to estimate the risk of hypertension.