Impact of short-term change of adiposity on risk of high blood pressure in children: Results from a follow-up study in China

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of short-term adiposity change on risk of high blood pressure (HBP), and to assess the low limit range of body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) reduction proposed to decrease the HBP risk in children. Children were longitudinally surveyed at baseline and after a short-term follow-up. General obesity (GOB) is categorized by age and gender-specific BMI cut-off points, abdominal obesity (AOB) by WHtR. Logistic regression model was used to estimate relations between adiposity change and HBP risk with adjustment of covariates. A total of 28,288 children (median of baseline age:10 years) were involved with follow-up of 6.88±1.20 months. After the follow-up, 9.4% of the children had persistent general obesity (GOB), 2.8% converted from GOB to non-GOB, 0.9% had newly developed GOB. When compared with children remained non-GOB, children with continuous GOB status, newly developed GOB, converting from GOB to non-GOB had 5.03-fold (95%CI: 4.32~5.86), 3.35-fold (95%CI: 1.99~5.65), 2.72-fold (2.03~3.63) HBP risk, respectively. Similar findings were observed for abdominal obesity (AOB). Reduction of 0.21–0.88 kg/m2 of baseline BMI (0.86–3.59%) or 0.009–0.024 of baseline WHtR (1.66–4.42%) in GOB or AOB children, respectively, was associated with significant decrease in HBP risk. Children with persistent obesity, newly developed obesity, or converting from obese to non-obese had significantly higher HBP risk. For children with GOB or AOB, reduction of <3.6% in BMI or <4.5% in WHtR could decrease the HBP risk.

Meeting 24-Hour Movement and Dietary Guidelines: Prevalence, Correlates and Association with Weight Status among Children and Adolescents: A National Cross-Sectional Study in China

“…and moderate PA (to some extent increasing one’s breathing and heart rate, such as table tennis, biking, badminton, etc.) were investigated [ 39 ]. Participants were required to record physical activity (PA) in and out of school for seven consecutive days.…”

“…For the intake of soft drinks, each child was asked to answer two questions, namely the frequency of all soft drinks consumed (number of cups per week) and usual serving size (cup), such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Nutrition Express, orange juice and Red Bull (one serving = 250 mL). We used these items to calculate children’s intake of soft drinks, breakfast and milk consumption during the past 7 days [ 39 , 42 ].…”