Background: The study aimed to investigate the association of Body Roundness Index (BRI), A Body Shape Index (ABSI), and Conicity Index with nutritional status and cardiovascular risk factors in South African rural young adults. Methods: The study included a total of 624 young adults aged 21–30 years from the Ellisras rural area. Anthropometric indices, blood pressure (BP), and biochemical measurements were measured. Results: BRI was significantly correlated with insulin (0.252 males, females 0.255), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA)-β (0.250 males, females 0.245), and TG (0.310 males, females 0.216). Conicity Index was significantly associated with pulse rate (PR) (β 0.099, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.017, 0.143, p < 0.013; β 0.081, 95% CI 0.000 0.130, p < 0.048), insulin (β 0.149, 95% CI 0.286 0.908, p < 0.001; β 0.110, 95% CI 0.123 0.757, p < 0.007). Conicity Index is associated with insulin resistance (IR) (odds ratio (OR) 7.761, 95% CI 5.783 96.442, p < 0.001; OR 4.646, 95% CI 2.792 74.331, p < 0.007), underweight (OR 0.023, 95% CI 0.251 0.433, p < 0.001; OR 0.031, 95% CI 0.411 0.612, p < 0.001), and obesity (OR 1.058, 95% CI 271.5 4.119, p < 0.001; OR 1.271, 95% CI 0.672 1.099, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Conicity Index was positively associated with insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. Further investigation of these indices and their association with nutritional status and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) could assist in efforts to prevent CVD in the rural South African population.

Introduction: In the agricultural world there is a continuous loss of food, fiber and other commodities due to pests, disease and weeds before harvesting time. These losses had create lots of financial burden to the farm owners that might lead to shutting down of their daily business. Worldwide, there is an overall very high loss of agricultural products due to weeds growth alone. To counteract this problem most farmers resort to the use of agrochemicals to increase their production but compromising the health of their farmworkers. The purpose of the study will be to assess the relationship between the agrochemical particles and cardiovascular diseases among farmworkers. Method: Non-systematic review was used to collect data. The following database were use: Medline, EBSCO, and Science Direct to search for the existing journal articles. Results: This study addresses the relationship between agrochemicals particles and cardiovascular diseases in the farming industries using literature review. Discussion: Other researchers had already done an extensive research on the pathway of potential mechanisms linking the ultrafine particulate matter to cardiovascular diseases. The outcomes of those investigations were the clinical results of events that might lead to the development of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure (CHF), stroke, arrhythmia and sudden death. Xenobiotic compounds that maybe implicated in the pathophysiology of human cardiovascular diseases, will be examined and included in this study. There is compelling evidence suggesting that toxic free radicals of pesticides play an important role in human health. Conclusion: There is a close relationship between agrochemicals particle and cardiovascular diseases.

This study attempts to bridge the research gap regarding the importance of dietary fiber in reducing metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors in young rural South Africans. A total of 627 individuals (309 males and 318 females) aged 18–30 years participated in the study. Dietary intake was measured using a validated 24-h recall method. The consumption of different types of dietary fiber (total, soluble, and insoluble) was calculated and presented as grams. Anthropometrics, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles were measured according to standard protocols. According to the definition of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the prevalence of MetS was 23.1%. Overall, the total median [interquartile range (IQR)] values for total, insoluble, and soluble fiber consumed were 4.6 g [0.0–48.9], 0.0 g [0.0–18.0], and 0.0 g [0.0–15.0], respectively. Females had a higher median [IQR] intake of total (5.1 g [0.0–48.9] vs. 4.3 g [0.0–43.9]), insoluble (0.0 g [0.0–18.0] vs. 0.0 g [0.0–12.0]), and soluble fiber (0.0 g [0.0–14.9] vs. 0.0 g [0.0–7.3]) than males, respectively. The mean values for waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, and total cholesterol were higher in females than males (82.20 cm vs. 75.07 cm; 5.59 mmol/L vs. 5.44 mmol/L; and 4.26 mmol/L vs. 4.03 mmol/L, respectively), with significant differences observed for waist circumference and total cholesterol (p < 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). More than 97% of participants had fiber intakes below the recommended levels. After adjusting for all potential confounders (age, gender, and energy), log total fiber was inversely associated with fasting blood glucose (β = −0.019, 95% CI [−0.042 to 0.003], p < 0.05), systolic blood pressure (β = −0.002, 95% CI [−0.050 to 0.002], p < 0.05) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = −0.085, 95% CI [−0.173 to 0.002], p = 0.051) This study may be of public health relevance, providing a potential link between less dietary fiber intake and fasting blood glucose (FBG) and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Therefore, this observational data encourages public health policy measures to increase the consumption of dietary fiber in rural communities in order to lower the burden of MetS and its associated risk factors.

The burden of hypertension is reported to be on the rise in developing countries, such as South Africa, despite increased efforts to address it. Using a cross-sectional study design, we assessed and compared the prevalence of and risk factors associated with hypertension amongst adults aged ≥18 years in semi-urban and rural communities (1187 semi-urban and 1106 rural). Trained community health workers administered the INTERHEART Risk Score tool and performed blood pressure assessments using the MEDIC Pharmacists Choice Blood Pressure Monitor. Hypertension was defined to be a systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify factors and determine their relationship with hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension amongst semi-urban and rural communities was 21% with no gender difference. In the semi-urban area, physical activity, family history, fruit intake, salty food, and eating meat were significantly associated with the odds of hypertension among women, whereas only the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), diabetic status, and salty food were the predictors for rural women. Factors such as fried food and low fruit intake were significantly associated with the odds of hypertension among men in the semi-urban area, whereas only the WHR was significant among men in the rural area. Hypertension was found to be prevalent among semi-urban and rural adults in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

The study aimed to investigate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and lifestyle risk factors among Ellisras adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 624 adults (306 males and 318 females). MetS was defined according to the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation. The prevalence of MetS was 23.1% (8.6% males and 36.8 % females). Females appeared to have higher mean values for waist circumference (WC), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TCHOL) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), while males had high mean values for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). No significant age and gender differences were observed for dietary intake. Significantly more females (51.9%) presented with increased WC than males (4.6%). Participants who had a high dietary energy intake were significantly less likely to present with larger WC (OR: 0.250 95% CI [0.161; 0.389]), low HDL-C (OR: 0.306 95% CI [0.220; 0.425]) and high LDL-C (OR: 0.583 95% CI [0.418; 0.812]) but more likely to present with elevated FBG (OR: 1.01 95% CI [0.735; 1.386]), high TCHOL (OR: 1.039 95% CI [0.575; 1.337]), high TG (OR: 1.186 95% CI [0.695; 2.023]) and hypertension (OR: 5.205 95% CI [3.156; 8.585]). After adjusting for age, gender, smoking, and alcohol status, high energy intake was more than two times likely to predict MetS in adults with a large WC (OR: 2.766 95% CI [0.863; 3.477] and elevated FBG (OR: 2.227 95% CI [1.051; 3.328]). Therefore, identifying groups that are at an increased risk and those that are in their early stages of MetS will help improve and prevent the increase of the MetS in the future.

Objective Height is required for the assessment of growth and nutritional status, as well as for predictions and standardization of physiological parameters. To determine whether arm span, mid-upper arm and waist circumferences and sum of four skinfolds can be used to predict height, the relationships between these anthropometric variables were assessed among Ellisras rural children aged 8–18 years. Design The following parameters were measured according to the International Society for the Advancement of Kinathropometry: height, arm span, mid-upper arm circumference, waist circumference and four skinfolds (suprailiac, subscapular, triceps and biceps). Associations between the variables were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients and linear regression models. Setting Ellisras Longitudinal Study (ELS), Limpopo Province, South Africa. Subjects Boys (n911) and girls (n858) aged 8–18 years. Results Mean height was higher than arm span, with differences ranging from 4 cm to 11·5 cm between boys and girls. The correlation between height and arm span was high (ranging from 0·74 to 0·91) withP<0·001. The correlation between height and mid-upper arm circumference, waist circumference and sum of four skinfolds was low (ranging from 0·15 to 0·47) withP<0·00 among girls in the 15–18 years age group. Conclusions Arm span was found to be a good predictor of height. The sum of four skinfolds was significantly associated with height in the older age groups for girls, while waist circumference showed a negative significant association in the same groups.