Some characteristics of anthropological status of women in Novi Sad – Republic of Serbia

The aim of this study was to determine the anthropological status of adult females and the prevalence of females with potential health risk using the indices of obesity. The anthropological study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 in Novi Sad, (the north of Serbia). The tested group consisted of 310 women, with mean age 41.42±6.86, involved in the project "The impact of physical activity on the risk factors in the working population." Nutritional condition was determined using the body mass index (BMI kg/m2 ), while the waist circumference and WHR were used for assessing the central obesity. According to the average BMI, the younger females are predominantly with normal weight, while higher percent of older females is characterised with pre-obesity. In total, 45.85% of females are with excessive body weight, 34.62% of them being classified as overweight and 11.23% as obese. Central obesity is more frequent in older females aged up to 40. Potential health risk increases with age, and very high health risk from abdominal and overall obesity was observed in 6.25% of younger and 13,25% of older women. The data therefore point to the necessity of continuous monitoring and a combination of existing programs with other forms of organized physical activity