Obesity and Hypertension among Adolescents in Jakarta, Indonesia

Association of general and central obesity with hypertension

“…In this study, 48.8% of obese people have hypertension by using Indonesian cut-off value, and 54.1% of obese people have hypertension by using WHO cut-off value. The results are similar to previous findings in which higher BMI resulted in higher prevalence of hypertension (16)(17)(18). Several mechanisms support the effect of weight gain on increasing blood pressure.…”

“…The higher rate of women with hypertension in Indonesia is interesting as other south east Asian countries have higher prevalence in men (14). In general, the risk factors contributing to the high prevalence of hypertension in Indonesia may be due to an aging population, genetic factors, less physical activity, and an inappropriate diet that may lead to the increasing prevalence of obesity (15,16).…”

Blood pressure-to-height ratio for diagnosing hypertension in adolescents

“…1 Other studies also found that overweight/obese children had two to three times the risk of hypertension, than normoweight children. [19][20][21] However, we did not measure our subjects' weights, so their BMIs could not be determined. In addition to BMI, sex hormones are known to affect vascular function, influencing the production of endothelin-1 and nitric oxide, both of which affect contraction of the vascular endothelium.…”