Profiles of BMI and blood pressure in young adults categorized by their components of height

Background Body proportion is an important symbol of human biology. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of components of height with BMI and blood pressure (BP) among young adults. Methods A total of 4135 college students (2040 males and 2095 females) aged 19–22 years participated in the study. All subjects were classified into four groups (Q1–Q4) according to their quartiles of height, sitting height and leg length, respectively, comparisons of BMI, SBP and DBP among the four groups were made. Results BMI is positively associated with sitting height and inversely associated with leg length, and the BP level is associated with sitting height rather than leg length. BMI and BP level of young adults are also associated with their body proportion, subjects with high sitting height ratio (SHR = sitting height/height × 100) had higher BMI and BP level, and more likely to have overweight/obesity and high BP. Conclusion BMI and BP level of young adults are associated with their components of height, young adults with longer sitting height and higher SHR should be given special attention in the prevention of hypertension in their future lives.