ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MENOPAUSAL STATUS AND CENTRAL ADIPOSITY AMONG THE TWO CASTE GROUPS OF CHANDIGARH POPULATION, INDIA

Dr. Purnima Parashar

Volume : VIII, Issue : VII, July - 2019

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MENOPAUSAL STATUS AND CENTRAL ADIPOSITY AMONG THE TWO CASTE GROUPS OF CHANDIGARH POPULATION, INDIA

Dr. Purnima Parashar

Abstract :

Introduction: The transition from premenopause to post menopause status has been associated with changes in body composition. Mostly, there is an increase in central adiposity, particularly in visceral fat, but the findings are not consistent for weight gain. There are relatively few data on changes in adiposity and fat distribution associated with menopause in women. This is an important issue because of the relationships that have been noted between obesity and cardiovascular diseases and obesity and certain cancers in postmenopausal women. Material and Methods: The data consists of a cross–sectional sample of 615 women ranging in age between 40–60 years. The sample was selected through snow ball sampling technique. Results: The mean age at menopause is found to be 47.48 ± 3.19 years among Brahmin women and 47.94 ± 3.22 years among Khatri women. The menopause status among Brahmin women on central adiposity is independent of BMI, another multivariate logistic regression analysis has been performed which shows the magnitude of association between postmenopause and abdominal adiposity became greater for waist–hip ratio (p<0.001), and for waist circumference it is p<0.05. There was no association between the perimenopausal status and abdominal adiposity for waist–hip ratio while statistically significant difference (p<0.05) for waist circumference in >88 cm cut–off was observed after the adjustment of BMI. Multivariate regression analysis among Khatri women shows that postmenopausal women are 197 times more likely than premenopausal women to have waist–hip ratio greater than 0.85. On the other hand, no positive association is detected for different cut–offs for waist circumference. Perimenopausal women are only 5.3 times more likely to have a waist circumference of >88 cm as compared to premenopausal women; whereas no association was seen for waist–hip ratio. The magnitude of the association between postmenopausal status and abdominal adiposity became slightly less after the adjustment of BMI though still showing statistically significant difference. Discussion: In this study, both Brahmin and Khatri women, the anthropometric assessment showed that compared with postmenopausal women, premenopausal women are taller and had a thinner waist and lower waist–hip ratio. Postmenopausal women had five times the chance of having central adiposity than premenopausal women, even after controlling for BMI and other confounding factors. Other studies conducted in Sweden and Australia also reported similar findings.