Anthropometric and body composition characteristics in pre- and postmenopausal Asian Indian women: Santiniketan women study.

The present cross-sectional study was aimed to investigate anthropometric and body composition characteristics in pre- and postmenopausal Asian Indian women. A total of 245 healthy women aged 25 to 65 years took part in the study. A random sampling procedure using a local voters' registration list was followed to select the participants. All participants belonged to the Bengalee population and were inhabitants of the Bolpur-Santiniketan area (lying in between 23 degrees 40' north latitude and 87degrees 43' east longitude) West Bengal, India. Before the actual commencement of the study, written information was communicated to select individuals, and an appointment was requested at their respective houses. Anthropometric measures, namely height, weight etc., were collected using standard techniques. Percentages of body fat (%BF) and body mass index (BMI) were measured using an Omron body fat analyser. All subjects were categorized into two groups: premenopausal (Group I; n = 145, mean age = 32.66 +/- 5.75 years) and postmenopausal (Group II; n = 100, mean age = 52.72 +/- 5.62 years). It was observed that 80.00% women were cohabited and 80.82% were housewife with 44.08% of them having an education up to secondary level. Furthermore, 62.45% subjects had monthly family expenditure of > or = 5000 Indian Rupees. One way ANOVA revealed that there was significant group difference for age, age at menarche, MWC, WHR, FM, FFM and %BF across the groups. Intercorrelation matrix (Pearson's correlation) showed that age had significantly positive association with MWC (p < 0.01), MHC (p < 0.05), WHR (p < 0.01), FM (p < 0.01), and %BF (p < 0.01), whereas FFM has had negative association with age. Most interestingly, it was observed that there was significant difference [chi2 (1) = 9.73] for central obesity status across the groups. It seems reasonable to argue that onset of menopause does play a vital role to alter body composition and in turn CVD risk factors.