Overweight Indices as Correlates of Coronary Heart Diseases and Blood Pressure

Document Type

Article

Authors

Barbara E.K Klein, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hll, N.C., and Dade County Department of Public Health, Miami, Fla.
Joan C. Cornoni, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Frank Jones, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Edwin Boyle Jr, Miami Heart Institute, Miami, Florida

Abstract

The relationship of coronary heart disease and blood pressure with seven weight for height indices was studied in data from the biracial community of Charleston County, South Carolina. The seven indices were crude weight, weight/height, Quetelet’s index (weight/height2), a modification of the Ponderal index (weight/height3 X 10,000), loge Quetelet’s index, average weight and relative weight. All indices were poor correlates of coronary heart disease. The highest correlations of the indices with blood pressure were found in white males and young white females. The loge transformation of Quetelet’s index correlated slightly better with blood pressure in the entire sample than did any other index.

Recommended Citation

Klein, Barbara E.K; Cornoni, Joan C.; Jones, Frank; and Boyle, Edwin Jr (1973) "Overweight Indices as Correlates of Coronary Heart Diseases and Blood Pressure," Human Biology: Vol. 45: Iss. 3, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol45/iss3/2