The Association Between Body Mass Index and Parental History of Hypertension Among Young Indian Adults

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a disease of multifactorial etiology. Individuals with parental history of hypertension (PHH) have also been observed to be at an increased risk of developing hypertension in their adult life. However, there is a dearth of studies among youth. Obesity is one of the risk factors, and studies conducted among adults of all age groups have observed that there is a highly significant correlation between hypertension and body mass index (BMI). Hence, the association between the two factors, viz., parental history of hypertension and BMI, among the young Indian male and female population was analyzed in this study. METHOD: This cross-sectional study conducted in Central India comprised 100 young adults between 18 and 25 years of age. On the basis of parental history of hypertension, the subjects were divided into two groups: group 1 comprised youth with parental history of hypertension and group 2 comprised youth without parental history of hypertension, involving 32 and 68 subjects in each of these groups, respectively. Anthropometric measurements were done using standard methods, and BMI was calculated. Statistical analysis was done using Epi Info software. RESULTS: The study subjects in both groups were comparable in age. The mean age of the study participants was 19.32 years and 19.45 years in group 1 and group 2, respectively. The study did not find any association between BMI and parental history of hypertension. CONCLUSION: The association between parental history of hypertension and BMI, the non-modifiable and modifiable independent risk factors, respectively, needs to be further explored in light of the iceberg phenomenon, multifactorial causation, and natural history of disease. It is worth mentioning that parental history of hypertension and other risk factors should be considered even if the BMI is normal as per Asian Indian cutoff levels.