A Relationship between Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure in Medical and Paramedical Students of Government Medical College, Kozhikode

Background: Hypertension is considered as a major contributor of premature death worldwide.Obesity has become a global epidemic and it is considered as a modifiable risk factor for hypertension Objectives: To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to evaluate relationship between BMI and Blood Pressure in medical and paramedical students of Government Medical College, Kozhikode Materials and Methods: 200 subjects in the age group of 18-25 yrs from medical and paramedical students of Government Medical College, Kozhikode were enrolled in the study.The study duration was 6 months.Students were divided into 3 groups-underweight, normal weight and overweight after calculating their Body mass index.The systolic blood pressure and diastolic pressure were recorded .Then Mean Blood pressure was calculated.Correlation analysis was done to study the effect of Body mass index on blood pressure.Results: The mean values of systolic BP, diastolic BP and mean BP were found to be significantly increased in the overweight group, moderate in normal weight group and decreased in underweight group.Conclusion: Obesity is an important risk factor for hypertension.Young people should practice healthy lifestyles so as to prevent obesity and hypertension in future Keywords: hypertension, body mass index, obesity, cardiovascular disease.