International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | January 2015 | Vol 3 | Issue 1 Page 269 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Shukla A et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2015 Jan;3(1):269-272 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Research Article Altered high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG) and anthropometric measurements in normal, overweight and obese under graduate medical students Ashish Shukla, Jaskiran Kaur, Akash Gupta* INTRODUCTION Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in India in the 21 st century, with morbid obesity affecting 5% of the country’s population. 1 Urbanization and modernization has been associated with obesity. 2 In Northern India obesity was most prevalent in urban populations (Males 5.5%, Females 12.6%), followed by urban slums (Males 1.6%, Females 3.8%). 2 Socioeconomic class also had an effect on the rate of obesity. Women of high socioeconomic class had rates of 10.4% as opposed to 0.9% in women of low socioeconomic class. 3 Obesity is a state of excess adipose tissue mass. It is gauged by Body Mass Index (BMI) which is equal to weight upon height square (in Kg/m 2 ) 4 and further evaluated in terms of fat distribution by measuring the Waist Circumference (WC) and total cardiovascular risk factors. 5 BMI is closely related to both percentage body fat and total body fat. 6 In children, a healthy weight varies with age and sex. Obesity in children and adolescent is defined as an absolute no in relation to historical normal group, such that obesity is a BMI >95 th percentile. 7 The reference data on which these percentiles were based dated from 1963 to 1994, and thus have not been affected by the recent increase in weight. 8 With people moving into urban centres and wealth increasing, concerns about an obesity epidemic in India are growing. So the study was conducted on under graduate medical college students to observe the changes in metabolic indicators. ABSTRACT Background: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in India, affecting 5% of the country’s population. Urbanization and modernization has been associated with obesity in population of younger generation. The aim of the study was to find out variation in metabolic indicators (HDL, TG and anthropometric measurements) of normal overweight and obese undergraduate medical students. Methods: Total of 194 students took part in this study. Their height, weight and waist circumference were measured by standard methods. Their serum was estimated for HDL, TG and, fasting sugar on fully automatic Vitros 250 dry chemistry analyser from Orthoclinical diagnostics from Johnson & Johnson USA. Results: Over all females students were more overweight (Females 16% and Males 8%) and obese (F 18%, M 9%) as compared to males. Blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, HDL, and TG levels were more in overweight and obese group as compared to normal group. Conclusion: The results of the current study have shown an increasing trend of obesity and derangement of metabolic indicators among under graduate medical students. Keywords: High density lipoprotein, Triglyceride, Obesity, Metabolic syndrome Department of Biochemistry, Subharti Medical College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India Received: 4 December 2014 Accepted: 17 December 2014 *Correspondence: Dr. Akash Gupta, E-mail: akash_inspace@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.5455/2320-6012.ijrms20150148