Volume 9_Article 1

Prevalence of Obesity and Hypertension among the Vaiphei and Rongmei Women of Manipur

Corresponding Author: Ak. Bojen Meetei, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal, Email: bojenmeeteiak@gmail.com

KEYWORDS Anthropometry, Body mass index, Obesity, Waist hip ratio, Cardiovascular disease

ABSTRACT The present study examines the prevalence of obesity and hypertension among the Vaipheiand Rongmei tribal women of Manipur. The study was carried out among 101 Vaiphei adult women of Salam Patong village and 78 Rongmei women of Ngarian village, Manipur. Anthropometric parameters, i.e., height, weight, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and physiological variables – blood pressure and pulse rate, were measured from each participant. Related indices of body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height ratio (WHtR) were also derived. The results indicated that Vaiphei females are significantly taller and have a higher pulse rate than the Rongmei women. WC indicates that central obesity is more prevalent among the Rongmei women (46.20%) than the Vaipheis (44.55%); and in BMI also, Rongmei women are more overweight (26.92%) and obese (32.05%). In contrast, the Vaiphei women have a higher prevalence of obesity based on WHR (89.90%) and WHtR (56.43%) than the Rongmei women, who have 12.82 % and 34.62 % in the respective indices. Rongmei women have also suffered more from hypertension stage I (29.49%) and hypertension stage II (17.95%) than the Vaiphei women. In conclusion, this study reveals the varied prevalence of hypertension and obesity among the studied population. Further, it puts forth the concerns to manage lifestyle factors to control the risk of cardiovascular disease in the studied population groups.

Ak. Bojen Meetei, Gairiuwang and Ch. Dhanalaxmi Devi
Department of Anthropology, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal

DOI: 06.2021-32625861
DOI Link :: https://doi-ds.org/doilink/06.2021-32625861/Frontier Anthropology/V9/A1