MSc. Marcelo Venegas A.a,b MSc. Hernán Salinas M.a,b; Lic. Mario Núñez L. a; Prof. Muricio Tapia Z.a; MS.c Manuel Gallardo V.a; MSc. Cristian Molina P.a y MSc. Marta Miro M.a,b
a Duoc UC Institute, School of Health. Santiago de Chile. Chile.
b Club Deportivo Universidad Católica. Santiago de Chile. Chile.
Autor para Correspondencia: Marcelo Venegas A. Duoc UC, Av. Concha y Toro 1340 c/San Carlos. Puente Alto. Chile. Email marcelovngs@gmail.com Teléfono +56 9 6676 3465
Abstract
Seventeen million people died worldwide from cardiovascular disease in 2000. (Velazquez-Monroy et al., 2003) Today, that value is increasing. There are anthropometric measurements related to adiposity, body perimeters and ratios relating height and body weight, that can be used to predict the cardiovascular risk level and cardiovascular mortality in adults (Koch et al., 2008). The nomogram for Chilean adults proposed by Koch et al. (2008), which uses the Waist Circumference–Height Ratio, was used to establish cardiovascular risk level. Besides, the level of obesity has been established using the Body Mass Index. The aim of this study is to describe the level of cardiovascular risk by means of Waist Circumference–Height Ratio and the level of obesity by means of the Body Mass Index of DUOC UC students. A total of 760 evaluated students shows an average Waist Circumference–Height Ratio of 0.48 ± 0.05 and an average Body Mass Index of 24.47 ± 3.49. According to the nomogram, it was observed that 70% of the students fall on a low level of cardiovascular risk, 20.4% on a moderate level and 9.6% on a high level. Regarding Body Mass Index, it is observed that the average for the total sample of 24.47 ±3.49 which is categorized as Healthy.
Keywords: Body mass index, Cardiovascular Risk, Risk factors, Waist to height ratio.
