Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Fatness, and Blood Pressure Associations in Nigerian Youth DANLADI I. MUSA 1,2 and CRAIG A. WILLIAMS 2 1 Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Benue State University, Makurdi, NIGERIA; and 2 Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre, Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Devon, UNITED KINGDOM ABSTRACT MUSA, D. I., and C. A. WILLIAMS. Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Fatness, and Blood Pressure Associations in Nigerian Youth. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 1978–1985, 2012. Purpose: This study aimed to examine the independent associations of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body fatness with resting blood pressure (BP) in children (9–11 yr) and adolescents (12–15 yr) in Benue State of Nigeria. Methods: A total of 3243 children (n = 1017) and adolescents (n = 2226) were evaluated for aerobic fitness, body fatness, resting preexercise BP and recovery BP at minutes 1, 5, and 10 after a progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run test. Regression models, controlling for age and recovery BP at 1, 5, and 10 min after the progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run, determined the associations of independent variables with the dependent variables. Results: Fatness and fitness were independent predictors of resting BP among participants, and the relationship of fatness with BP was more robust in adolescents than in children. In all cases, the relationships were stronger in boys than in girls. Combined fitness and fatness in predicting BP was modest (R 2 = 1%–3%) after controlling for age and postexercise BP. Postexercise BP was a major determinant of resting BP in both groups (R 2 = 23%–93%). In adolescents, fatter boys had 1.9 times likelihood of systolic HTN compared with leaner peers. Systolic and diastolic BP scores varied by fit–fat groups, the fit–low-fat group demonstrated the most favorable BP profiles, whereas the unfit–high-fat group showed the most adverse profiles. Conclusions: Irrespective of fatness, participants with higher CRF had more favorable BP profiles compared with their fat–unfit peers. Key Words: GENDER DIFFERENCE, HYPERTENSION, YOUTH, HEALTH PROMOTION H ypertension (HTN) has been identified as one of the major risk factors involved in the pathogenesis of CHD, a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide (6). It has been observed that HTN is the cause of one in eight deaths, making it the third leading killer worldwide (38). Although HTN, like many other CVD risk factors, is an adult health problem, previous studies have documented that it may begin in adolescence or even earlier in childhood (6,18). In the past, extensive studies on CVD risk factors have been conducted in different child and ad- olescent populations (6,39), identifying HTN as a potent antecedent of CHD. So far, no similar studies have been conducted with African school children. High blood pressure (BP) tracks from childhood to adulthood (37), implying that children and adolescents with BP ranking high or low tend to retain the ranking later in life. Therefore, if individuals who are at risk of this disorder are identified early, suitable inter- vention (lifestyle) strategies can be initiated, which could en- hance better health prospects later in life. HTN is becoming a major pediatric health problem glob- ally because the increasing prevalence of the disorder has been recently reported in many countries, including those from Africa, for instance Nigeria (11) and South Africa (25). Although the specific etiology of HTN is unknown, el- evated body fat levels and low physical fitness have been found to be major predisposing factors (10,23). For example, Londe et al. (20) reported that 53% of children age 4–15 yr with HTN were obese. Furthermore, both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in children and adolescents have demon- strated that overweight and obese participants exhibit higher resting BP than their lean counterparts in a dose–response manner (23,36). The relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or physical activity and HTN is well docu- mented in the adult population, indicating that people with low fitness are at increased risk of HTN (2,32). Although far from conclusive, there is emerging evidence toward a similar trend in the pediatric population (5,10). The effect of aerobic fitness and body fatness on CHD risk has been widely explored in adults, but studies in chil- dren are fewer with conflicting results (14,17,35). In one study investigating the relationship among aerobic fitness, fatness, and CHD among 12- to 13-yr-old Welsh children, Address for correspondence: Craig A. Williams, Ph.D., Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre, Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, St. Luke’s Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, United Kingdom; E-mail: c.a.williams@exeter.ac.uk. Submitted for publication November 2011. Accepted for publication April 2012. 0195-9131/12/4410-1978/0 MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE Ò Copyright Ó 2012 by the American College of Sports Medicine DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31825ae19d 1978 APPLIED SCIENCES Copyright © 2012 by the American College of Sports Medicine. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.