Publication:

Unravelling obesity linked cardio-metabolic risk heterogeneity among young adults residing in middle India: a prevalence and comparative study across diverse phenotype

Background Obesity is a complicated metabolic state with diverse phenotypic expressions; which linked with distinct cardio-metabolic risk profiles. Knowing prevalence of those phenotype and understanding cardio-metabolic risks across phenotypes is essential for developing effective public health care strategies. Objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and compare cardio-metabolic risk profiles among different phenotypes.

Methods 403 young adult (aged 18-25 years) of both genders were included for this cross-sectional study. Participants were classified into obesity phenotypes based on body mass index (BMI) and metabolic health status. Under ethical consideration demographic, anthropometric measurements and cardio-metabolic risk factors were assessed by using standard protocol.

Results Overall prevalence of metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUNW), metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) and metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotypes were 3.47%, 8.44% and 5.56% respectively, with slightly higher prevalence in males than females. MUO individuals exhibited the highest metabolic risk markers with the lowest HDL levels. MHO individuals demonstrated relatively better metabolic profiles. MUNW showed intermediate levels for most parameters.

Conclusions The study highlights significant metabolic differences among obesity phenotypes, with MUO showing the highest risk and MHNW presenting the most favorable metabolic health. These findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing between different obesity phenotypes for effective management and intervention strategies.