The relationship of waist circumference distribution to blood pressure levels among children and adolescents in Shandong, China.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have documented a positive association between waist circumference (WC) and risk factors for chronic disease in children and adolescents. The present study examined the relationship of WC distribution to BP levels and prevalence of relatively high BP among children and adolescents in Shandong, China.

METHODS: A total of 6895 students (3442 boys and 3453 girls) aged 7-17 years participated in this study. Height, weight, WC and BP of all subjects were measured; body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated from their height, weight and WC. Relatively high BP status was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP)≥ 95th percentile for age and gender.

RESULTS: SBP and DBP were positively correlated with WC, WHtR and BMI in both boys and girls. The strongest correlation observed for BP was with WC. Z-scores of BP and the prevalence of relatively high BP increased with WC percentiles, this trend being especially obvious in the upper percentiles of WC. The prevalence of relatively high BP increased from 9.21% (boys) and 11.76% (girls) in the <5th WC percentile group to 58.99% (boys) and 40.34% (girls) in the ≥ 95th WC percentile group, an increase of 5.4- and 2.4-times.

CONCLUSION: Children and adolescents with elevated WC might have an increased risk of hypertension. These findings emphasize the importance of the prevention of overweight and obesity in order to prevent future-related problems such as hypertension in children and adolescents.