Abstract

This study was done to investigate the health-related habits, dietary intakes and serum lipid levels in overweight and obese women by body mass index (BMI). Subjects were 137 pre-menopausal women aged 19 to 49 years. They were divided by 3 groups, overweight (23 < or = BMI < 25), obese (25 < or = BMI < 30) and morbidly obese (BMI > or = 30) according to their BMI. Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method. Dietary intakes were examined by 3-day record method and nutrient intakes were analyzed by the Computer Aided Nutritional analysis program for professionals (CAN-pro 3.1). Serum lipid levels were measured using automatic biochemical analyzer (Selectra E). The average age, height, weight, and BMI of subjects were 31.7 years old, 159.3 cm, 69.4 kg, and 27.4 kg/m(2), respectively. Their average consumption of energy were 12 kcal and 86.4% of estimated energy requirement (EER). Their mean ratio of carbohydrate : protein : fat was 55.2 : 14.6 : 30.2. Particularly, the fat consumption of subjects tended to be elevated with increasing BMI. There was no significant difference in nutrient intakes among 3 groups. But the mean intakes of Ca, Fe, vitamin C and Na of all the subjects were 70.1%, 87.2%, 75.7% of recommended intake (RI) and 258.9% of adequate intake (AI), respectively. The intakes of vegetables and seaweeds were significantly higher in morbidly obese group while the intake of fruits was higher in overweight group compared to the other groups. Serum lipid analysis showed that there were no significant differences in the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol among the groups. But the serum HDL-cholesterol level of the overweight group was significantly higher than that of the other groups. LDL-/HDL-cholesterol ratio and AI index were significantly higher in the morbidly obese group compared to the other groups. In addition, The systolic blood pressure of morbidly obese group was significantly higher compared to the other groups. Overall data suggest that morbidly obese women have to more concern about reducing systolic blood pressure and serum lipid levels by decreasing their fat consumption and salt intakes as well as loosing body fat. In addition, all the subjects participated in this study have to be careful about their meals and health-related behaviors in order to prevent obesity-related chronic diseases.

• Keywords: obesity; BMI; health-related habits; food intakes; serum lipids