[01] Sawsan Hassan Mahassni, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. [02] Noor Omar Bashanfar, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

For the last few decades, overweight and obesity have been increasing in Saudi Arabia, especially in females. Hypertension and dyslipidemia are linked to overweight and obesity and together these conditions lead to many diseases. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of overweight and obesity on the lipid profile and blood pressure in 112 healthy Saudi females with an age range between 18 to 28 years. Also, to determine the best anthropometric measurement to link the subjects' weight to hypertension and dyslipidemia. To assess the body weight status of the subjects and to categorize them, the weight, height, and the waist and hip circumferences were measured to calculate the body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and the waist circumference (WC). A blood sample was collected from each subject to determine the complete lipid profile and a home blood pressure monitor was used to determine blood pressure. Compared to the control, the only relations found between the parameters and the anthropometric measurements are the following: triglycerides increased significantly for the highest WC group; LDL increased significantly for the highest BMI and WC; HDL significantly increased for the lowest BMI and significantly decreased for the moderate risk WHR and both WC groups; the diastolic and systolic blood pressures increased significantly for the highest BMI and WC groups; and the diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly for the lowest BMI. Cholesterol concentrations were not significantly related to the anthropometric measurements. Therefore, the results confirm the findings of other researchers that overweight and obesity are linked to hypertension and dyslipidemia and it may be concluded that the WC is the best anthropometric measurement for determining the risks for the presence and future development of these conditions in this cohort. It is recommended that more research be done on this cohort and on males for comparison.

Obesity, Overweight, Dyslipidemia, Hypertension, BMI, WHR, WC, Lipid Profile, Diastolic Blood Pressure, Systolic Blood Pressure

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