Screening Obesity by Direct and Derived Anthropometric Indices with Evaluation of Physical Efficiency Among Female College Students of Kolkata

BACKGROUND: The available information regarding the obesity pattern of the undergraduate female students of Kolkata is inadequate, though there are several reports which indicate the complications and/or awful consequences of obesity on female health particularly, during the reproductive years. AIM: The present investigation has thus been carried out to report their present physiological status along with the prevalence of obesity, based on their body mass index (BMI), some direct and derived anthropometric indices, and physical fitness. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This small-scale cross-sectional study conducted in randomly selected 100 female students of different colleges of Kolkata with the age of 18-22 [mean age 20.4 (2.3)] years. Measurements of body composition included total 24 variables, with thirteen direct and eleven derived anthropometric variables; while physical efficiency parameters were physical fitness index, VO(2max), energy expenditure and anaerobic power. The data of the experimental group were compared with those of the control group by t-test, using SPSS v.15.0 and MS-Excel v.2013. RESULTS: Analysis of collected data showed majority of the students have normal range of BMI (67.95%), but, 21.95% of students found to be overweight and 3.84% are obese. They also showed higher fat mass [14.40 (4.11)], but, lower waist-to-hip ratio and conicity index. They were found to have poor to moderate physical fitness [57.60 (3.90)] and higher energy expenditure [5.61 (0.72)]. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present obesity screening reports almost one of four female students (24 out of 100 participants) are overweight/obese, indicated higher body fat distribution and increased propensity of being obese with age. Thus, the overall data along with their low physical fitness points out to health risks among female undergraduates of Kolkata.