Prevalence of obesity and hypertension among Tehran University students

To describe prevalence of overweight and obesity and determine its correlation with hypertension among students of Tehran University.

This was a cross-sectional study using data from 3931 Tehran University students. Anthropometric measurements (Height, Weight and BMI) and blood pressure were obtained and were classified based on WHO classification. Using statistical tests the associations between BMI and blood pressure were studied.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 13.5% and 3.2%, respectively. 63.9% of the subjects had normal BMI and 19.4% were underweight. The association between BMI and high blood pressure were statistically significant (P<0.0001).

The findings suggest that the BMI is a good predicting factor for hypertension.