Gross correlation between waist hip ratio and blood sugar level in a village.

Introduction: Diabetes is one of the major public health problems in Nepal. Very few studies on correlation between waist hip ratio and random blood sugar have been done in remote areas of Nepal particularly in minor ethnic groups like Thami. This study attempted to compare waist hip ratio and blood sugar level in Thami community.

Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in sub-health post of Lapilang village of Dolakha district of Nepal. A total of 243 local inhabitants from Thami Tribe participated in the study. Waist hip ratio was calculated after taking measurements of waist and hip using flexible measuring tape; and, blood glucose level was measured by glucometer.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 46.02 years; among participants 126 (51.9%) were males and 117 (48.1%) were females. Mean waist hip ratio was 0.87, mean blood sugar level was 124.5 mg%. Increase in Waist hip ratio correlated significantly with increase in random blood sugar level both in males (p=0.008) and females (p=0.007).

Conclusions: Increase in waist hip ratio is associated with increase in random blood sugar level. Therefore, there is a need of public awareness program to reduce waist circumference thus reducing weight of people to prevent development of diabetes mellitus in long run.