Original article Association Between Adiposity and Blood Pressure Levels Between the Ages of 6 and 16 Years. Analysis in a Student Population From Madrid, Spain M. Dolores Marroda ´n Serrano, a,b, * M. Dolores Caban ˜as Armesilla, a M. Margarita Carmenate Moreno, c Marisa Gonza ´ lez-Montero de Espinosa, a Noemı ´ Lo ´ pez-Ejeda, a Jesu ´s R. Martı ´nez A ´ lvarez, a,b Consuelo Prado Martı ´nez, c and Juan F. Romero-Collazos a,c,d a Grupo de Investigacio ´n EPINUT-UCM, Madrid, Spain b Sociedad Espan ˜ola de Diete ´tica y Ciencias de la Alimentacio ´n (SEDCA), Madrid, Spain c Departamento de Biologı´a, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Auto ´noma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain d DeporClinic, Clı´nica de Medicina Deportiva y Fisioterapia, Coslada, Madrid, Spain Rev Esp Cardiol. 2013;66(2):110–115 Article history: Received 20 March 2012 Accepted 17 August 2012 Available online 5 December 2012 Keywords: Obesity Blood pressure Pediatrics Body composition Cardiovascular risk A B S T R A C T Introduction and objectives: The increase in the incidence of hypertension in children can be attributed to the rising prevalence of obesity. The objective is to analyze the impact of overweight and the degree or distribution of adiposity on blood pressure levels in a population of Spanish schoolchildren. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 1511 schoolchildren between 6 years and 16 years of age. We measured weight, height, waist circumference, subcutaneous skinfolds, and blood pressure. Nutritional categories were established on the basis of body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, and percent body fat. According to the National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group, subjects whose blood pressure was above the 90th percentile of the standard normal distribution were considered to have high blood pressure. Results: In all, 3.17% of the boys and 3.05% of the girls had high blood pressure. According to odds ratio analysis, the risk of high blood pressure increased in individuals with a body mass index indicative of obesity (7.87-fold in boys, 12.32-fold in girls), with a percent body fat>97th percentile (6.98-fold in boys, 18.51-fold in girls), or with a waist-to-height ratio0.5 (10.56-fold in boys, 7.82-fold in girls). Conclusions: Overweight and obesity increase the risk of high blood pressure in children between 6 years and 16 years of age, although the risk level varies depending on the amount and distribution of adipose tissue. Anthropometric indicators of relative adiposity and fat distribution are especially useful in the identiﬁcation of children and adolescents with high blood pressure. ß 2012 Sociedad Espan ˜ola de Cardiologı ´a. Published by Elsevier Espan ˜a, S.L. All rights reserved. Asociacio ´n entre adiposidad corporal y presio ´n arterial entre los 6 y los 16 an ˜ os. Ana ´ lisis en una poblacio ´n escolar madrilen ˜a Palabras clave: Obesidad Presio ´n arterial Pediatrı ´a Composicio ´n corporal Riesgo cardiovascular R E S U M E N Introduccio ´n y objetivos: El avance de la hipertensio ´n en edad temprana puede atribuirse al incremento de la obesidad. El objetivo es analizar la repercusio ´n del exceso ponderal, el grado y la distribucio ´n de la adiposidad en la presio ´n arterial de poblacio ´n escolar espan ˜ ola. Me ´todos: Estudio transversal sobre 1.511 escolares de 6 a 16 an ˜os. Se midio ´ peso, talla, perı ´metro de la cintura, pliegues adiposos y presio ´n arterial. Se establecieron categorı ´as nutricionales a partir del ı ´ndice de masa corporal, el ı ´ndice de cintura-talla y el porcentaje de grasa. Siguiendo al National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group, se considero ´ con presio ´n elevada a los sujetos que superaban el percentil 90 del esta ´ ndar. Resultados: Presentaron presio ´n arterial elevada el 3,17% de los nin ˜os y el 3,05% de las nin ˜as. Segu ´n el ana ´ lisis de la odds ratio, el riesgo aumento ´ en los sujetos con ı ´ndice de masa corporal indicativo de obesidad (7,87 veces en nin ˜os, 12,32 en nin ˜as), con porcentaje de grasa superior al percentil 97 (6,98 veces en nin ˜os, 18,51 en nin ˜as) o con un ı ´ndice de cintura-talla  0,5 (10,56 veces en nin ˜os, 7,82 en nin ˜as). Conclusiones: El sobrepeso y la obesidad aumentan la probabilidad de tener presio ´n elevada entre los 6 y los 16 an ˜os, aunque el riesgo varı ´a en funcio ´n de la cantidad y la localizacio ´n del tejido adiposo. Los indicadores antropome ´ tricos de adiposidad relativa y distribucio ´n de la grasa son especialmente u ´ tiles para identiﬁcar a los nin ˜os y adolescentes con presio ´n arterial elevada. ß 2012 Sociedad Espan ˜ola de Cardiologı ´a. Publicado por Elsevier Espan ˜a, S.L. Todos los derechos reservados. * Corresponding author: Departamento de Zoologı ´a y Antropologı ´a Fı ´sica, Facultad de Biologı ´a, Universidad Complutense, Jose ´ Novais 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain. E-mail address: marrodan@bio.ucm.es (M.D. Marroda ´n Serrano). 1885-5857/$ – see front matter ß 2012 Sociedad Espan ˜ola de Cardiologı ´a. Published by Elsevier Espan ˜a, S.L. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rec.2012.08.007 Document downloaded from https://www.revespcardiol.org/, day 25/11/2021. This copy is for personal use. Any transmission of this document by any media or format is strictly prohibited. Document downloaded from https://www.revespcardiol.org/, day 25/11/2021. This copy is for personal use. Any transmission of this document by any media or format is strictly prohibited.