Association between body adiposity index and cardiovascular risk factors in teachers

Abstract Body adiposity index (BAI) is a relatively recent evaluation method for the diagnosis of overweight and obesity, which takes into account simple measures. The aim of this study was to verify the association between BAI and cardiovascular risk factors in teachers. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 495 teachers from the city of Viçosa-MG. BAI, body mass index (BMI), abdominal circumference (AC), waist-to-hip ratio (WtHR), body fat percentage (%BF), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides were evaluated. Associations between BAI (independent variable) and other variables (dependent variable) were evaluated through simple linear regression. Of the total participants, 32.12% presented high BAI and higher anthropometric, blood pressure and biochemical values (p<0.05). Higher percentage of high BAI was observed among men and with advancing age. Linear regression analysis showed positive association between BAI and other anthropometric measurements (p<0.001), with glucose (R²=0.024; p=0.001) and total cholesterol (R²=0.028; p<0.001). BAI was positively associated with the other anthropometric measures (BMI, %BF, AC and WtHR), and with the glucose and total cholesterol of evaluated teachers. Higher BAI was observed among men and with advancing age.