IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS) e-ISSN: 2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 9, Issue 1 Ver. VI (Feb. 2014), PP 01-07 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 1 | Page Association Of Handgrip Strength With Body Mass Index Among Nigerian Students. *Ibegbu Augustine Oseloka; Baita Muhammad Bello; Hamman Wilson Oliver; Umana Uduak, Emmanuel; Musa Sunday Abraham Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria-Kaduna State-Nigeria Abstract: The aim of the present research was to study the relationship between handgrip strength with body mass index in 400 randomly selected Secondary School Students in Kano metropolis, Nigeria. The students were from Two Secondary Schools and were aged between 14-18 years with mean age of 16.00±1.35. Various anthropometric variables studied include, the height, weight, BMI, hand width and length, upper and lower arm length, mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and handgrip strength were measured using standard anthropometric measurement techniques. The results show that male students had higher mean values in height (16.00±1.35kg), weight (46.34±8.30cm), hand length (19.34±0.98cm), hand width (10.45±0.90cm), forearm length (27.93±1.92cm), arm length (31.93±2.46cm) and handgrip strength (35.63±17.17), while having lower mean values in BMI (17.45±2.30) and MUAC (24.23±2.26cm). Male students had a higher mean handgrip strength which is significantly correlated (P≤0.01) with all the variables studied while female students had handgrip strength with a significant positive correlation (P≤0.01) with some of the variables. It may be concluded that handgrip strength had strong positive correlations with all the anthropometric variables associated with BMI in Nigerian Secondary School Students of Kano metropolis. Keywords: Hand grip; BMI, Anthropometric Variables; Weight; Height; Hand; Students; Kano I. INTRODUCTION Hand grip strength is a physiological variable that is affected by a number of factors including age, gender and body size among others (Bassey and Harries, 1993; Baskaran et al., 2010). The estimation of hand grip strength is of immense importance in determining the efficacy of different treatment strategies of the hand and also in the hand rehabilitation (Benefice and Malina,1996) ). The power of hand grip is the result of forceful flexion of all finger joints with the maximum voluntary force that the subject is able to exert under normal biokinetic conditions (Charles and Burchfiel, 2006; Baskaran et al., 2010). Evidence has shown that there were strong correlations between grip strength and various anthropometric traits, such as weight, height, hand length and BMI as had been reported earlier by Ross and Rosblad (2002); Shyamal and Satinder (2011). In fact, the grip strength has been reported to be higher in dominant hand with right handed subjects, but there were no such significant differences between sides could be documented for left handed people (Incel et al., 2006). Right and left hand grip strengths were positively correlated with weight, height and body surface area in Indian population (Chatterjee and Chaudhuri, 1991). The human hand is unique in being free of habitual locomotion duty and devoted entirely to functions of manipulation (Fess, 1992). Its effectiveness in these activities is due to particular configuration of the bones and muscles which permits opposition of the pulp surface of the thumb to the corresponding surfaces of the other four finger tips in a firm grasp, together with a highly elaborated nervous control and sensitivity of the fingers (Dixon et al., 2005). The hand length and body height ratio, the shape index which determines hand shape, the digit index which determines grasping capability and the palmar length/width ratio which determines palmar type without the digits, and other anthropometric parameters are all important parameters to be considered when studying the grip strength in any population of interest as they all play roles in grip strength (Mathiowetz et al., 1986; McArdle et al., 2001). In the study of the relationships of hand grip strength with stature, weight, arm and calf circumferences and various subcutaneous skin folds, it was found that males attained greater values for those anthropometric variables and also have greater hand grip strength values than their female counterparts (Benefice and Malina, 1996; Naeem et al., 2008). It has been shown that there was age dependent increase in hand grip strength in boys and girls as well as the inter-gender differences was strongly associated with changes of fat free mass during the childhood (Sartorio et al., 2002; Nicola et al., 2006; Prakash et al., 2011). Handgrip strength (HGS) is a measure of strength of several muscles in the hand and the forearm (Bassey and Harrie, 1991; Shyamal and Arvinder 2010). Hand grip strength is usually measured in either kilograms or Newtons depending on calibrations by squeezing a handgrip strength dynamometer with one’s maximum strength. The power of grip is the result of forceful flexion of all finger joints with a maximal voluntary force that the subject is able to exert under normal biokinetic conditions (Navdeep and Shyamal, 2010). Hand grip