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), systolic (SEP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in middle-aged European (n = 262) and mainly migrant Pakistani (n = 100) men of Mirpuri (Kashmiri) 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 WHR and CI with age, BMI, TC, SEP and DBP were not significantly different within and between the two ethnic groups. However, multiple regression analysis revealed that Pakistanis had significantly lower cholesterol and systolic blood pressure for any given CI or WHR but no ethnic difference was observed for diastolic blood pressure. There is no evidence from this study that CI shows any advantage over WHR, as a surrogate for abdominal adiposity, in cross-sectional epidemiological investigation of risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) in ethnic groups like South Asians.