The Relationship between Macronutrient Intake and Women s Abdominal Obesity in Sabzevar, Iran

Background: Given that abdominal obesity increases the risk of affecting metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between energy and macronutrient intake with women s abdominal obesity in Sabzevar. Methods: In this study, 225 female nurses and medical staff in Vase’e hospital of Sabzevar were selected. In order to assess the dietary intake, data were gathered by completing food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Anthropometric indices including: height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference of the samples was measured according to standard guideline and waist to hip circumference ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. The WHR 0.8 was considered as abdominal obesity. The level of significance was (P 0.05). Results: The result showed that of the waist mean circumference was 80.73  12.58 cm, hip circumference was 102.29  11.57 cm and women s WHR was 0.87 ± 0.15. The mean of energy, fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol intake in assessed women was more than the standard dietary intake. There was no significant relationship between abdominal obesity and energy and macronutrient intake. Conclusions: This study showed that the incidence of female abdominal obesity is high and energy and macronutrient intake is recommended more than the standard. This problem emphasizes the necessity of converting dietary habits and pattern of worker women in order to enhance dietary status and reducing obesity.