Large body mass index and waist circumference are associated with high blood pressure and impaired fasting glucose in young Chinese men.

Background: Obesity is closely related to many chronic diseases and metabolic risk factors. The present study examined the relationship of obesity-related indices to blood pressure (BP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) among young Chinese men.

Methods: A total of 1193 male college students aged 18-22 years participated in the study. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and FPG were measured. High BP was defined as SBP ≥140 mmHg and/or DBP ≥90 mmHg. Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was defined as FPG ≥5.6 mmol/L.

Results: BMI, WC and WHtR were positively correlated with BP and FPG (rBMI-SBP = 0.455, rBMI-DBP = 0.367, rBMI-FPG = 0.113, rWC-SBP = 0.445, rWC-DBP = 0.382, rWC-FPG = 0.115, rWHtR-SBP = 0.396, rWHtR-DBP = 0.302, rWHtR-FPG = 0.106, P all < 0.01). When categorized by BMI (underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity), the mean values of SBP, DBP, FPG and the prevalence of high BP and IFG increased with BMI, significant differences were observed among the four groups (P < 0.01). When categorized by WC and WHtR, similar differences were observed, with subjects in the large WC/WHtR group had a higher BP and FPG than their counterparts in the low WC/WHtR group (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Large BMI and WC/WHtR are associated with high BP and IFG. Our results suggested that prevention of obesity in youth may be an effective approach for preventing the development of diabetes and hypertension in the future.