Prevalence of Abnormal Lipid and Blood Pressure Values Among an Ethnically Diverse Population of Eighth-Grade Adolescents and Screening Implications

Abstract

OBJECTIVES-Our goal was to report the prevalence of elevated blood pressure and lipid levels among eighth-grade adolescents from 3 US locations and differences by gender, ethnicity, and overweight percentile group.METHODS-Fasting blood samples and blood pressure levels were obtained from 1717 eighthgrade students from 12 predominantly minority schools in 3 states (Texas, California, and North Carolina) during spring 2003. Age, gender, ethnicity, weight, and height were ascertained and BMI calculated. The presence of abnormal total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, prehypertension, hypertension, at risk for overweight, and overweight were calculated and compared with the findings of previous youth studies. We examined whether prevalence differed by gender, ethnicity, or BMI group.RESULTS-A total of 23.9% of participants had high blood pressure, 16.7% had borderline total cholesterol, 4.0% had high total cholesterol, 10.5% had borderline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 3.9% had high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 13.3% had low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and 17.2% had high triglycerides. A total of 19.8% of participants were at risk of overweight (BMI ≥85th percentile, <95th percentile) and 29% were overweight (BMI ≥95th percentile). The prevalence of risk factors was associated (P < .05) with the overweight group and differed by age and gender.CONCLUSIONS-Prevalence of elevated blood pressure was higher in this sample than in previous national surveys in which subjects were less overweight. Associations between overweight and both elevated lipid and blood pressure levels suggest that adolescents overweight or at risk for overweight should be screened for elevated blood pressure and lipid levels. Address correspondence to Russell Jago, PhD, Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Centre for Sport Exercise and Health, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TP, United Kingdom. E-mail: E-mail: russ.jago@gmail.com. The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. [3][4][5][6] suggesting that the presence of elevated lipid or cholesterol levels during adolescence increases the risk of adult disease. Lipid levels and blood pressure levels have also been reported to vary by ethnicity, 7-10 gender, 7,9 and Tanner stage 11,12 among children and adolescents. NIH Public AccessIn the Bogalusa Heart Study (1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994), 11.4% of 11-to 17-year-olds were overweight (Quetelet index), 9% had high total cholesterol (TC) levels (>200 mg/dL), 8% had high (>130 mg/dL) low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and 11% had low (<35 mg/dL) highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). 13 Recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000 showed that the prevalence of high triglycerides and low HDL-C remained virtually unchanged since NHANES III (1998III ( -1994 among 12-to 19-ye...

Body composition in 13-year-old adolescents with abdominal obesity, depending on the BMI value

“…46-52% obese adolescents and in 11-16% overweight ones, while Jago et al reported lipid abnormalities in 12-17% of children with excess body weight. 12,13 Moreover, fat tissue accumulation in teenagers often contributes to distorted body perception, which results in mood changes and depression. Excessive body weight diverges from the images created by the mass media, of a slim woman and a muscular man, to whom positive qualities are attributed, such as success, health, self-confidence, and sexual attraction.…”

HEALTHY study rationale, design and methods: moderating risk of type 2 diabetes in multi-ethnic middle school students

“…Results have been reported. 1,71,72 Although recruitment of a representative sample and performing all of the data collection procedures were successful, we found almost no undetected diabetes (o1%) but high levels of T2D risk factors. Of 1740 eighth graders, 49% had a BMI X85th percentile, 40.5% had fasting glucose values X5.55 mmol l…”

Hypertensive Adolescents: Correlation with Body Mass Index and Lipid and Glucose Profiles

“…28 Unfortunately, few studies have correlated the progression of height with the lipid profile, glucose levels, and hypertension in children and adolescents, as most seek to associate these variables with childhood and juvenile obesity. [29][30][31][32] A study by Batide-Alanore et al 33 including 865 families has confirmed that short height is associated with an adverse cardiovascular profile. Despite the small number of participants, the findings of this study, showing that hypertensive adolescents (with essential or secondary hypertension) were shorter and presented higher glucose and LDL-C serum levels and lower HDL-C serum levels, may contribute to the development of further prospective studies assessing the behavior of these variables at adult age and their correlation with the incidence of CAD.…”