The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and co-morbidities of obesity in residents of Gorgan

Obesity is one of the important health care problems in the world, being known as the main risk factor in the occurance of cardiovascular, hypertension and diabetes. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and co-morbidities of obesity in residents of Gorgan. Material and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 207 subjects (18 years old or older) were randomly selected and a check list containing demographic information was completed for each person. All the subjects were then sent to the laboratory for blood tests. The statistical analysis was performed, using SPSS. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-Square were usd to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that 31.4% of the subjects had normal BMI and 60.9 % of them had BMI >25. The mean BMI in all the subjects was 26.54 ± 4.86. There was a significant relationship between the level of LDL cholesterol and BMI (P < 0.05). The subjects with high BMI showed elevated blood pressure (BP), but no relationship was observed between BMI and BP. Conclusion: Our results about the relationship between LDL cholesterol and BMI indicate the necessity of the preventive and educational programs to educate the public on obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities.