Anthropometric and Body Composition Characteristics in Pre- and Postmenopausal Asian Indian Women: Santiniketan Women Study

摘要

The present cross-sectional study was aimed to investigate anthropometric and body composition characteristics in pre- and postmenopausal Asian Indian women. A total of 245 healthy women aged 25 to 65 years took part in the study. A random sampling procedure using a local voters' registration list was followed to select the participants. All participants belonged to the Bengalee population and were inhabitants of the Bolpur-Santiniketan area (lying in between 23°40' north latitude and 87°43' east longitude) West Bengal, India. Before the actual commencement of the study, written information was communicated to select indi-viduals, and an appointment was requested at their respective houses. Anthropometric mea-sures, namely height, weight etc., were collected using standard techniques. Percentages of body fat (%BF) and body mass index (BMI) were measured using an Omron body fat analy-ser. All subjects were categorized into two groups: premenopausal (Group I; n = 145, mean age = 32.66 ± 5.75 years) and postmenopausal (Group II; n = 100, mean age = 52.72 ± 5.62 years). It was observed that 80.00% women were cohabited and 80.82% were housewife with 44.08% of them having an education up to secondary level. Furthermore, 62.45% subjects had monthly family expenditure of ≥ 5000 Indian Rupees. One way ANOVA revealed that there was significant group difference for age, age at menarche, MWC, WHR, FM, FFM and %BF across the groups. Intercorrelation matrix (Pearson's correlation) showed that age had significantly positive association with MWC (p < 0.01), MHC (p < 0.05), WHR (p < 0.01), FM (p < 0.01), and %BF (p < 0.01), whereas FFM has had negative association with age. Most interestingly, it was observed that there was significant difference [x~2(1) = 9.73] for central obesity status across the groups. It seems reasonable to argue that onset of menopause does play a vital role to alter body composition and in turn CVD risk factors.