Waist-to-height ratio and skipping breakfast are predictive factors for high blood pressure in adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) in adolescents of the Valencian Autonomous Community (VC) in Spain. Besides, its association with other risk factors related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) or arterial hypertension (AHT) in order to increase our knowledge of public health and to provide advice about healthy diets. We conducted a multicentre, observational, cross-sectional, epidemiological study in a sample of 4402 adolescents from 15 schools during the 2015–2016 school year. The participants were aged between 11 and 18 years, and any individuals already diagnosed with AHT were excluded. In addition to the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), Evaluation of the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), a lifestyle habits survey, the waist-to-height ratio (WtHR), and body mass index (BMI) were calculated for each participant. Informed Consent was obtained from Parents of the adolescents involved in the current study. The study received approval from the University ethics committee and all procedures were conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Chi-squared, Student t-tests, and ANOVA statistical analyses showed that 653 (14.8%) adolescents had previously undiagnosed HBP and that was significantly associated with male sex (p < 0.001), age over 15 years (p < 0.05), and height, weight, waist circumference, WtHR, BMI, and skipping breakfast. Based on the data we obtained in this study, the modifiable factors that influence HBP in adolescents were WtHR, BMI, and skipping breakfast.

Body composition and blood pressure relationship among western-Kenya school children and adolescents

“…Comparing males and females in either secondary or primary schools, males had higher SBPs while females had higher DBPs. This has been demonstrated before where mean SBP was significantly higher in boys than in girls with the mean DBP exactly opposite (10). The current study provides the first description BC variables have on SBP in school-going Kenyan children and adolescents at a time childhood onset hypertension is noted to be on the rise in Africa(2).…”

“…In data disaggregated based on sex however, weight, BMI and WC correlate with SBP for both boys and girls but not in DBP among boys, and this is true for girls regards WC (8, 9). Other studies from both similar and different populations suggest that weight and BMI positively correlates with both SBP and DBP in boys and girls, and that high WHtR also compares with higher BP (7, 10). Studies have also shown that these factors though interrelated can independently cause higher BP in isolation even where the other variables of body composition are normal.…”

How Does Being Overweight Moderate Associations between Diet and Blood Pressure in Male Adolescents?

“…This difference was even more pronounced in the NZ youth population where more males (7.9%) had high BP compared to females (3.4%) [3]. Similar patterns were also observed in other populations around the world [5][6][7].…”

A lifestyle pattern characterised by high consumption of sweet and salty snacks, sugar sweetened beverages and sedentary time is associated with blood pressure in families at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in Europe. The Feel4Diabetes Study

“…As far as coffee consumption is concerned, habitual coffee consumption has no effect in BP levels; however, occasional coffee consumption might raise BP 37 . Regarding breakfast skipping and BP, a systematic review of cross‐sectional studies conducted in adolescents concluded that skipping breakfast was associated with higher BP levels 38 and breakfast skipping predicted later high BP in adolescents 39 . Smoking has also been associated with higher BP levels 40,41 …”