This study was aimed at determining the association between body mass index (BMI), waist/ hip index (WHI) and waist circumference (WC) with prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) in male members of the Brazilian Army. The sample consisted of 426 men aged between 27 and 37 years, all students of the Brazilian Army Post Graduation School for Officers - EsAO in 2006. Subjects were considered hypertense when presenting arterial pressure equal or above 140/90mmHg and when using antihypertensive drugs. Considering the BMI, WHI and WC respectively, the results point to the following percentages of obese or overweight subjects: 12.91%, 7.98% and 17.84%. The best anthropometric indicator for systemic arterial hypertension was the waist/ hip index (Odds Ratio = 4,45). Our findings show a prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension (5,63%) considerably below that found in other national studies and strong associations between the used anthropometric indicators and hypertension.
Obesity; Body mass index; Hypertension; Anthropometry
