Correlation between body mass index, body fat distribution and body composition among employees of a university hospital in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte-MG

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between body mass index, waist to hip ratio, waist circumference and fat percentage in adults.This is cross-sectional study which was performed in a hospital in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. During 2007, 193 adults from technical and administrative staff aged 20 to 59 years were evaluated. We first measured weight, height, waist, hip and neck circumferences and skin folds and then calculated the body mass index, the waist to hip ratio, the fat percentage and the muscle area of the arm. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v.12.0 program. Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher exact test were applied considering a 5% significance level. From a total of 193 patients evaluated, 66.3% were female. The mean age was 34.0 ± 8.4 years. The body mass index average was similar in both sexes, corresponding to 26.4 kg /m². The waist to hip ratio and the fat percentage had lower coefficients of magnitude with body mass index (r = 0413 r = 0502, respectively) when compared to the waist circumference (r = 0.88).After comparing the indicators of fat distribution, we noticed that the measure of the waist circumference is the best indicator of excessive weight in both sexes.