Chapter one Introduction Background of the study
This study determined the relationship of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) measurements with blood pressure in young adult patients attending the general outpatient clinic of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri. The study is intended to create awareness on the burden of non-communicable disease in this locality. Body mass index and waist to hip ratio were used in this present study to determine obesity for two main reasons. Firstly, due to simplicity and reproducibility of height, weight, hip and waist circumference measurements; secondly because both have been recognized as important indicators for estimating cardiovascular disease risk factors, in particular, their association with hypertension.