Gender differences in anthropometric data and in blood pressure values after a 10 weeks training program

Purpose: The prevalence of overweight and obesity and the and incidence of non-communicable diseases increased dramatically over the past 20 years in GCC countries includes Qatar (1,2). The early screening and the propagation of the regular physical activity is essen- tial in the country. The aims of the study were: 1. to map the body composition and blood pressure of young Qatari adults (18-30yr), 2. to determine changes in it after a 10 weeks training program. Methods: 158 Qataris were involved to the study [men (n=89), women (n=69)] from Qatar University (QU). We measured systolic (BPS) and diastolic (BPD) blood pressure body high, body weight, % body fat and the regular physical activity (PA) was assessed by IPAQ. Pre-hypertensive/hypertensive and overweight/obese subjects (20 males and 20 females) were selected and involved into the 10 weeks training program (3-5 times/week, 30-60 minutes/session, 55-60% of the HRmax). The training sessions on 3 times/week were guided by an instructor, the other 2 trainings were individually performed by the subjects followed by a written training schedule. Results: 28.3% of males were overweight and 34.8% were obese; where females were 23.2% and 17.4%, respectively. Male subjects had significantly higher BMI values than females (27.38±6.24 vs. 23.24±5.57 p<.001). IPAQ results shown that vigorous, and moderate type activity didn’t differ between genders, but in low intensity PA (walking) females were more active than males 111min/week vs. 88 min/week, p<.001. Males attended frequently on the face-to-face training sessions than females (2.3 vs. 1.45 hours/week, p<0.05). The 10 weeks training program induced significant reduction in BDP (78.00±6.06 vs. 74.81±10.2 mmHg, p<0.05), BW (91.12±16.31 vs. 85.2±15.28 kg, p<0.01), %BF (31.15±9.0 vs. 21.19±4.38 p