Anthropometric determinants of high blood pressure in elementary schoolchildren

• Autor(a) principal: Haddad, Laiza Santos Pimentel
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Fernandes , Kiscila Araújo, Lopes, Guilherme Burini, Veloso, Francielle Bosi Rodrigues, Caniçali, Sheila Cristina, Poton, Wanêssa Lacerda
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Medicina de Família e Comunidade (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://www.rbmfc.org.br/rbmfc/article/view/2779
• topic: Child; Overweight; Pediatric obesity; Hypertension; Cardiovascular diseases.; Niño; Sobrepeso; Obesidad pediátrica; Hipertensión; Enfermedades cardiovasculares.; Criança; Sobrepeso; Obesidade pediátrica; Hipertensão; Doenças cardiovasculares.

Introduction: Pediatric hypertension has received special attention from pediatricians, as increased blood pressure in childhood contributes to the early onset of essential hypertension in adulthood and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Anthropometric measurements have been useful in diagnosing childhood overweight and obesity, considered risk conditions for hypertension in adulthood. The earlier the identification of these risk factors, whether in the school environment or in health services, the higher the number of preventive actions that can be developed to reduce this problem. Objective: To identify the incidence of high blood pressure and its association with anthropometric measurements in elementary schoolchildren. Methods: This is a longitudinal study with 1,116 schoolchildren, 133 of whom participated in three assessments from 2017 to 2019. Demographic information, anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist circumference, body mass index), and blood pressure values (systolic and diastolic adjusted for sex and age according to parameters from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) were recorded in a form. The association of variables with high blood pressure was analyzed using Poisson regression, with robust variance adjustment. Results: A total of 51.6% of students were boys with a mean age of 7.9 years, and 45.4% had high blood pressure according to criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those who presented high waist circumference, 19.4% progressed from normal to high systolic blood pressure, and 35.5% from normal to high diastolic blood pressure over the three years of follow-up. In overweight and obese schoolchildren, normal systolic blood pressure progressed to high in 20.7 and 21.2% of cases, respectively, and normal diastolic blood pressure progressed to high in 24.1 and 42.4%, respectively. Schoolchildren with high waist circumference (relative risk – RR 1.51; confidence interval – 95%CI 1.20–1.91; RR 1.58; 95%CI 1.25–2.00), weight (RR 1.37; 95%CI 1.08–1.74; RR 1.34; 95%CI 1.05–1.71), and body mass index (RR 1.51; 95%CI 1.21–1.87; RR 1.50; 95%CI 1.20–1.88) presented a greater risk for systolic and diastolic hypertension, respectively. Conclusions: Waist circumference, weight, and body mass index were associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure in schoolchildren, and the risk was greater among those with higher waist circumference.