Body fat indices for identifying risk of hypertension in Indian children.

BACKGROUND: High adiposity is major risk factor for hypertension. Various anthropometric indices are used to assess excess fatness.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine relationship of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to height ratio (WHtR), triceps skin fold thickness (TSFT) and wrist measurements with blood pressure in children and adolescents 2) to suggest age- and gender-specific cutoffs for these indices in Indian children.

METHODS: Cross-sectional school-based study on a random sample of 6380 children (6-18 yr old, 3501 boys) from five major cities in India. Height, weight, waist and wrist circumference, TSFT, and blood pressure were recorded. Children with systolic blood pressure (BP) and/or Diastolic BP >95th percentile were classified as hypertensive.

RESULTS: Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 23.5% and 9.7%, respectively. Hypertension was observed in 5.6%. Multiple logistic regression (adjustments: age, gender) indicated double risk of hypertension for overweight and 7 times higher odds for obese than normal-weight children. Children with TSFT >95th centile for US children showed three times risk and with TSFT from 85th to 95th double risk of hypertension. Higher WC and WHtR exhibited 1.5 times risk and larger Wrist 1.3 times higher risk of hypertension (P<0.001). Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis provided age-gender specific cut offs for the five indices to detect the risk of high BP. Area under ROC curves (AUC) for five indices were similar and greater in older age groups indicating equal sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion: Using age- and gender-specific cutoffs for BMI, TSFT, WC or WHtR may offer putative markers for early detection of hypertension.

CONCLUSION: Using age- and gender-specific cutoffs for BMI, TSFT, WC or WHtR may offer putative markers for early detection of hypertension.