Prevalence of obesity and its association with hypertension: A cross sectional study of military personnel in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces
Isehardy MURNI 1, Lin NAING 2, Muhd Hiza Wardy ABDUL HALIM 1
1 Medical and Health Services, Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) and 2 Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences (HIS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Obesity is a growing health issue in both the civilian and military populations. Obesity is known to be an independent risk factor for hypertension. Studies have demonstrated that prehypertension and hypertension are both associated with increasing risk for cardiovascular events. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst senior military personnel
and examined the association between obesity and blood pressure. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study utilised the medical information obtained from the RBAF 40 year old Health Screening Programme carried out in 2011-2013. There were 271 participants included in the study. This health screening consisted of a series of anthropometric measurements, blood tests and medical assessment. Age, ranks, military units, smoking status, height, weight and blood pressure measurements were also extracted from the existing data of the programme. The differences in the means of the measures were analysed by using one-way ANOVA test and the chi square test was used to analyse the differences in the blood pressure of normal BMI, overweight and obese groups. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 60.1% and 12.1% respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between obesity and hypertension (p=0.008). It was also noted that the mean systolic (p<0.001) and diastolic (p=0.040) blood pressure significantly increased with BMI. Conclusions: Both military and civilian population are equally affected with obesity. This study showed that overweight and obesity are strongly related to elevated blood pressure. Ranks, military units and smoking do not have any association with obesity.
Keywords: Obesity, military, blood pressure, body mass index, prevalence
Correspondence author: Isehardy MURNI Headquarters Medical & Health Services, Combat Support Services, Royal Brunei Land Forces, Berakas Garrison BB3510, Ministry of Defence, Brunei Darussalam Tel: +673 2311158. E mail: isehardy.m@gmail.com
Brunei Int Med J. 2015; 11 (3): 126-133