Relationship between adult stature, BMI and WHR in Backa and Banat.
BACKGROUND
Adult height can be a marker of living conditions in early life. The aim of this study was to assess relationship between adult stature, overweight and central obesity in Backa and Banat--Vojvodina (Serbia). 4,504 adults, average age 40.62 +/- 10.74, were tested.


METHODS
The analysis of differences in morphological variables, BMI, WHR in stature, age and educational groups was carried out using t-test and chi-square test. Models of logistic regression were used to estimate the risk (OR; 95% CI) of obesity in different stature groups.


RESULTS
This study showed that education was a significant factor that influences stature. Most short stature subjects had primary education. The highest percentage of those with university-level education was in the tall stature group. Among men, short stature did not correlate with overweight/obesity while a smaller correlation was observed in relation to central adiposity. It, however, had a more marked influence among women. Short stature women were more susceptible to overweight in 20-49 y age groups, and to abdominal obesity in 50-59 y age group.


CONCLUSIONS
Short stature can potentially be an independent risk factor for developing overweight/obesity in women and to a lesser extent for central obesity of both men and women.
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department for Biology and Ecology, Laboratory for Human Biology, Novi Sad, Serbia. tatjana.pavlica@dbe.uns.ac.rs
Tatjana
T
Pavlica
Verica
V
Bozic-Krstic
Rada
R
Rakic
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio