Chronic energy deficiency in some low socio-economic populations from South India: Relationships between body mass index, waist–hip ratio and conicity index

This paper reports the prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED) based on body mass index (BMI) and its relation to other adiposity measures namely, waist–hip ratio (WHR) and conicity index (CI) in some low socio-economic groups from South India. Two ethnic groups from each area type, namely, tribal, rural and urban areas, are included and samples of 646 men and 670 women belonging to six groups are selected on a multistage basis. Based on the measurements, BMI, WHR and CI are calculated. A considerable proportion of populations studied here experience CED. A higher proportion of women than men show CED. The BMI and WHR are slightly higher among men and WHR exhibits significant intersex difference. The CI is in expected ranges and all ethnic groups differ from each other in all measurements and indices. Age is strongly correlated with WHR and CI, but not with BMI. Both WHR and CI are influenced by BMI. BMI and sex are found to be significant contributors to the variation in WHR, and ethnicity also added to the variation in CI. The present study also concludes that adult malnutrition (as indicated by BMI) is spread to a considerable extent in these populations of low socio-economic status. It appears that the ethnic differences occurring in several measurements/indices reflect the economic and social conditions.