CONICITY INDEX AND WAIST-HIP RATIO AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH TOTAL CHOLESTEROL AND BLOOD-PRESSURE IN MIDDLE-AGED EUROPEAN AND MIGRANT PAKISTANI MEN

A comparative study of abdominal adiposity, total cholesterol (TC), sy stolic (SEP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in middle-aged Europea n (n = 262) and mainly migrant Pakistani (n = 100) men of Mirpuri (Kas hmiri) origin found no significant ethnic difference in mean body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and conicity index (CI). However, Pakistanis had significantly lower mean TC (p < 0.0001) and SEP (p < 0 .005) but significantly higher mean (p < 0.05) DBP. Correlations of WH R and CI with age, BMI, TC, SEP and DBP were not significantly differe nt within and between the two ethnic groups. However, multiple regress ion analysis revealed that Pakistanis had significantly lower choleste rol and systolic blood pressure for any given CI or WHR but no ethnic difference was observed for diastolic blood pressure. There is no evid ence from this study that CI shows any advantage over WHR, as a surrog ate for abdominal adiposity, in cross-sectional epidemiological invest igation of risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in ethnic gro ups like South Asians.