Age Trends in Blood Pressure and Obesity among the Urban Bhutias of Sikkim

Blood pressure and obesity are two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Many population based studies have already been conducted in many countries on epidemiological profile of hypertension and obesity. Such studies among the Himalayan populations in general and the Eastern Himalayan ones in particular are extremely few in numbers. Age related changes in blood pressures and obesity have been observed in many modernizing and transitional communities. It has often been found that such changes lead to adverse cardiovascular health outcomes. In view of the above, the present paper is aimed to examine the age related changes in blood pressures and prevalence of obesity in one hand, and the influence of obesity on blood pressures, if any, on the other, among the Bhutias, a tribal community in Sikkim. Data on blood pressures and anthropometrics were collected from 200 randomly chosen Bhutia study participants of both sexes inhabiting Gangtok, the capital town of the Sikkim State, and its neighbourhood, following standard techniques. Further, information on dietary habits, activity pattern and other life style related behavioural traits were gathered from the study participants using appropriate questionnaires. The results of the study show that irrespective of sex, both Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) increase with increasing age; a reversal of this trend is noticed, however, after attaining 60 years of age. Age differences in SBP and DBP are statistically significant in both sexes. Obesity as measured in terms of body mass index (BMI) value as well as other relevant measures such as Fat Mass (FM), Percent body Fat (PBF), Conicity index (CI) show age related changes. It is also observed that obesity is influencing blood pressures, both systolic and diastolic, in the study population. Authors’ Address: Sobhanjan Sarkar and Barun Mukhopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute, Biological Anthropology Unit, 203, B. T. Road; Kolkata 700 108, West Bengal India Address for Correspondance: Barun Mukhopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute, Biological Anthropology Unit, 203, B. T. Road; Kolkata 700 108, West Bengal India E-mail: barun@isical.ac. in © Kamla-Raj Enterprises 2008 Health and Nutritional Problems Tribes and Tribals, Special Volume No. 2: 59-66 (2008) of Indigenous Populations Kaushik Bose, Guest Editor Stevenson, D. R. 1999. “Blood pressure and age in crosscultural perspective. ” Human Biology, 71: 529-551 Valdez, R. , J. C. Seidell, Y. I. Ahu and K. M. Weiss. 1993. “A new index of abdominal adiposity as an indicator of risk for cardiovascular disease. A cross population study. ” International Journal of Obesity, 17: 77-82. Waldron, I. , M. Nowotarski and M. Freimer, M. 1982. “Cross-cultural variation in blood pressure: A quantitave analysis of the relationships of blood pressure to cultural characteristics, salt consumption and body weight. Social Science Medicine, 16: 419430. Wing, R. R. , K. A. Matthews, L. H. Kuller, E. N. Meilahn and P. L. Planting. 1991. “Weight gain at the time of menopause. ” Archive of Internal Medicine, 151: 97-102. WHO. 1993. World Health Statistics Quarterly vol. 46. Geneva: World Health Organization. WHO. 1999. World Health Organization-International Society of Hypertension guidelines for the management of hypertension. 7 WHO/ISH meeting of hypertension. Fukuoka: Japan. WHO, International Diabetes Institute. 2000. The Asiapacific perspective: Redefining obesity and its treatment: a joint report of the regional office for the Western Pacific of the World Health Organization, the International association for the study of obesity and the International Obesity Task Force. Melbourne, Australia. WHO. 2000. Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. WHO Technical Series 894. WHO: