The Impact of Gender and Age on the Relationship between Body Mass Index and Hypertension among Middle-Aged Inhabitants of Kolkata, India

Abstract

More than one billion people are hypertensive worldwide. This makes hypertension an issue of community health. Therefore, it should be our chief concern to identify the risk factors of hypertension and suggest essential preventive measures to reduce this public health burden. Diverse inquiries have uncovered the positive correlation between being overweight, obesity, and dyslipidemia with hypertension. Research suggests that Body Mass Index (BMI) and hypertension demonstrate a significant positive correlation. Excessive weight gain or visceral fat gain is the dominant risk factor for hypertension. Apart from this, several other factors like abdominal adiposity, family history, smoking etc. may be responsible for hypertension. In light of this context, the current article explores the relationship between adult residents of Kolkata's BMI and their hypertension levels. The study was performed among two age groups viz. 35 to 44 years and 45 to 54 years, as the problem is mostly uncommon for the young generation. The sample size of the present investigation was 200, having equal representation from both age and gender groups. The subjects were from middle socio-economic status families as inferred from their occupations. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), height, and weight were quantified. BMI was estimated from the measured height and weight. Descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients and ‘t’ tests were calculated. Impact of age and gender was determined on BMI and hypertension scores of the subjects. The results of the present study exhibit a constructive and significant association between the relevant variables. The correlation coefficient between body mass index (BMI) and SBP was 0.74, while that between BMI and DBP was 0.734. Both correlations were statistically significant at the 0.01 level of significance. The outcomes of the t-Test indicate that significant differences exist between the BMI, SBP, and DBP scores within the gender groups. The calculated t-values for BMI, SBP, and DBP were 7.946, 7.973, and 5.296, respectively, with all of them being significant at the 0.05 level of significance. Age was found to have no substantial impact on any of the three variables. These findings can aid in identifying individuals at risk and developing preventive strategies to mitigate the prevalence of obesity or overweight and subsequently reduce blood pressure levels among adults.