Health Forecast in Contemporary Society- A Case Study of Dorben Polytechnic Students, FCT Abuja

Abstract

A good indicator of how much fat you carry is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Although it is not a perfect measure, it gives a fairly accurate assessment of how much of your body is composed of fat. BMI is a measure which takes into account a person’s weight and height to gauge total body fat in adults.  Thus, this study explored the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and Blood Pressure with waist circumference and serum fasting lipid levels of apparently healthy students attending Dorben Polytechnic, so as to make predictions on health. Samples were obtained from the representative students of the institution after oral consent. On the basis of BMI, all participants were divided into three groups via, underweight (BMI was less than 18.50 kg/m²), normal weight (BMI was between 18.50- 24.90 kg/m²) and overweight (BMI between 25.00 - 29.90 kg/m²). The mean of serum lipid levels, waist circumference as well as blood pressure were within the normal range in all the three BMI categories. The BMI in underweight and overweight categories correlated well with risk factor of cardiovascular disease as compared to BMI in the normal category. The mean BMI of 18.39Kg/M² and 27.15Kg/M² recorded in the underweight and overweight category respectively have lipid profiles that are predictive of future metabolic disorder, if left unabated in geometric fashion, and  in the long run. Health problems can be extrapolated following the trend, and by extension health forecast.

Key words: health forecast, Anthropometric parameters, Lipid profile