Background : Recently obese people have increased in Korea due to change of diet and life style. Obesity itself is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease. Also, obesity is associated with hyper tension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes as a componet of insulin resistance syndrome. To assess the health implications of obesity, we investigated the prevalence of obesity and the correlation between obesity and dyslipidemia.
Method : The study was conducted in 1,733 elderly Korean(male 346, female 1,387) who lived in southwest Seoul area. Subjects were checked sex, age, height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Overall obesity was measured by BMI(body mass index) and abdominal obesity was evaluated by WHR(waist-to-hip ratio). Subjects were divided according to their BMI(<25.0, ≥ 25.0) and WHR(male≤0.90, ≥0.90/female≤0.85, ≥0.85).
Result : The prevalence of obesity according to BMI was 32.1% in men and 46.4% in women. Systolic and diatolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LCD cholesterol in the obese group revealed significantly higher than those in the nonobese group. In the abdominal obesity male group according to WHRl, the serum tiglyceride level was increased and the serum cholesterol level was decrea- sed but blood pressure, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were not different compared with the non-obese group. In the abdominal obesity female group, sys- tolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly different in addition to triglyceride and HDL cholesterol compared with the non-obese group.
Conclusion : Obese Korean elderly population had a characteristics like higher levels of blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and lower level of HDL cholesterol. which were known as cardiovascular risk factors. To evaluate the correla- tion between obesity and cardiovascular risk, prospective study for the difference of incidence of cardiovascular disease between obese and non-obese group will be continued.
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