Diet and lifestyle: its association with cholesterol levels among Nomad tribal populations of Rajasthan

Abstract

Background: Dietary pattern and lifestyle may enhance the risk factors associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Aim: This study examine the dietary pattern and other lifestyle known to be associated with threatening features related to metabolic disorders. Material and Method: 1440 subjects made up of 633 males and 807 females with age group >18 years were studied from a cluster of three districts. All subjects lived in different locations of these districts of Rajasthan. Dietary patterns, physical activities related with work, habit of consuming liquor were noted while cholesterol level, blood glucose levels, blood pressure, height, weight, waist girth, and hip circumference were measured. Results: The overall prevalence rate of borderline high cholesterol level (200-239) and high cholesterol (>240) was 21.1 % and 9.4 % among select tribal populations. It was found that 71.7% were nonvegetarian and 28.3% were vegetarian out which 82.6% were males and 63.2% were females. It was observed that males (10.7%) had high cholesterol level as compared to females (8.4%). Females were slightly more at borderline high cholesterol level as compared to males. Working group (9.8%) had high level of cholesterol level as compared to non-working group (6.7%). Conclusion: Specifically meat eaters were significantly associated with high cholesterol level and liquor consumers might be prone to risk factors like high cholesterol levels as they were not significantly associated but positively correlated with high cholesterol levels. Overall consumption of mustard oil was 100% among these populations. This might be the reason for having less prevalence rate of high cholesterol level as compared to rural and urban populations.

Keywords: Diet, mustard oil, lifestyle, cholesterol