Anthropometric Indicators in an Urban Fitness Center of the Province of Heredia

The aim of this study was to identify trends in anthropometric values and their relation with health in users of the Centre for Physical Fitness (CPF) of the School of Health Sciences and Quality of Life (CIEMHCAVI) of the National University. 1000 records were analyzed, although for reasons of lack of data we only worked with 563. The information gathered corresponded to 315 men and 248 women with an average age of 28.5 ± 11.3 and 248 30.3 ± 11.3 years respectively. Each file contained information on the following anthropometric values: Body Mass Index (BMI), weight, fat percentage, and waist to hip ratio. The results for percentage of body fat and BMI corresponded to a healthy population by international standards. Both men and women showed similar BMI, while women showed significantly higher mean values than men for the percentage of body fat and cardiovascular risk. Furthermore, significant positive correlations were recorded between BMI, body fat percentage and waist to hip ratio. Overall, the data analyzed showed healthy anthropometric values for most of the people attending the CPF – CIEMHCAVI in the period from 2004 to 2006