The Relationship between Waist Circumference and Serum Adiponectin Levels, Dietary Intake and Blood Pressure in Normal Weight, Overweight, and Obese Women

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for many diseases and health problems. Furthermore, waist circumference (WC) because of being strongly associated with the accumulation of fat in the abdominal area is a simple way to show obesity associated with adiponectin secretion produced by adipose tissue. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association between WC and adiponectin levels, dietary intake and blood pressure (BP) in normal weight, overweight and obese women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 180 women aged over 20 years including 57 women with normal weight body mass index (BMI = 18.5-24.9 kg/m 2 ), 61 overweight women (BMI = 25-29.9 kg/m 2 ), and 62 obese women (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ). Serum adiponectin level, BP, WC, and dietary intakes of all subjects were determined. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows, version 17.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL), ANOVA test, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: Mean anthropometric and biochemical variables significantly increased with mean weight gain (P < 0.05). The relationship between WC and adiponectin level was strongly negative (P < 0.05, r = 0.350). Dietary intake and BP factors had significant positive correlation with WC and obesity increase. In contrast, they were inversely associated with adiponectin levels (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Dietary intakes of fat and eating high-calorie food considerably increased WC. On the other hand, due to the inverse relationship between adiponectin level and WC, adiponectin level reduced. Besides, due to the effect of dietary intake on BP, BP also plays an important role in the likelihood of obesity.