Research Article A Body Shape Index and Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Indians with Low Body Mass Index

Copyright © 2014 Sharma Sowmya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. One third of Indian population is said to be suffering from chronic energy deficiency (CED), with increased risk of developing chronic diseases. A new anthropometric measure called A Body Shape Index (ABSI) is said to be a better index in predicting risks for premature mortality. ABSI is also in part said to be a surrogate of visceral fat.Objective.The present study aimed to explore the association between indices ofHRV (heart rate variability), BMI,WC, andABSI in healthy Indianmales with lowBMI (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) and to compare with normal BMI group (BMI 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2).Methodology. ABSI and BMI were derived from anthropometric parameters, namely, height, weight, and waist circumference in 178 males aged 18 to 78 years. Subjects were categorized into two groups based on their BMI.Results and Conclusions. Power spectral analysis ofHRVdemonstrated a significant negative correlation between Log HF (high frequency) and ABSI in both low BMI [−24.2 (9.4)