COMPARSION OF ANTHROPOMETRY AND BLOOD PRESSURE OF OBESE AND NON-OBESE POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN OF KARACHI, PAKISTAN

The prevalence of overweight or obesity in middle-aged women, around and after menopause is high and is rising worldwide, more rapidly in women over the age of 40 years, with up to 65% being either overweight or obese and up to 30% or more being obese. This study was planned to examine the differences in body mas index (BMI), arm circumference (Arm C), waist hip ratio (WHR) and blood pressure (BP) in obese post-menopausal women as compared to normal weight post-menopausal women. We conducted and arrange the medical camps in different localities of Karachi city. We selected age group between 40 to 55 years of females both control (n=13) and obese (n=71) with ceased menstruation for at least one year. Body weight and height was taken to calculate BMI. Blood pressure was measured in resting position of participants. A questionnaire has been designed to collect the detail information from the volunteers. Our findings evaluated the BMI (kg/m2) of obese females were significantly higher than control females (P<0.001). Arm circumferences of obese women were significantly greater (P<0.001). Comparison of mean values of WHR of both the groups showed significantly higher values in obese group (P<0.01). Both Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (mmHg) of Obese postmenopausal women significantly higher (P<0.001 and P<0.01) respectively. This study found that growing issues of abdominal obesity were higher for postmenopausal women. BMI, Arm C, WHR and BP of obese postmenopausal women were significantly elevated than non-obese females.