Body mass index and nutrition as determinants of health and disease in population of Croatian Adriatic islands.

aimTo investigate the relationships between body mass index (BMI), dietary habits, and cardiovascular risk factors in isolated Adriatic island populations of Croatia.

methodsRandom sample of subjects (n=1001) was interviewed, using a validated questionnaire developed for this research program. Dietary habits were assessed on the basis of applied Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Biochemical analyses of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides, and blood glucose were performed. Blood pressure (mm Hg), height (m), and weight (kg) were measured following standard procedures.

resultsOut of 1001 study participants, 507 (50.7%) were overweight (247 [48.7%] men and 260 [51.3%] women), whereas 268 (26.8%) were obese (122 [45.5%] men and 146 [54.5%] women). In both genders, there was a positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and levels of triglycerides (P<0.001), glucose (P<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001), and systolic blood pressure (male: P=0.002, female: P<0.001). Logistic regression showed that female gender (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.61-3.31), overweight (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.34-2.88), obesity (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.22-2.96), more frequent consumption of meat (OR 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06-1.30) and beer (OR 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03-1.27), and less frequent consumption of potatoes (OR 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99) were predictive for the presence of cardiovascular risk factors.

conclusionPrevalence of obesity and related health outcomes was surprisingly high for the studied population. We found a correlation between BMI, dietary habits, and cardiovascular risk factors.