A meta-analysis on the effects of dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet on blood pressure of children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective To estimate the effects of the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet on blood pressure (BP) of children and adolescents by using meta-analysis. Methods The articles of the randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) on the DASH diet were collected and selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed to calculate the weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the blood pressure change associated with DASH diet in children and adolescents. Results Eight RCT papers involving experimental group for 838 and the control group for 1 222 were included. All the papers had high methodological quality. According to comparative analysis between the lowest tertiles of DASH Score and highest tertiles of DASH Score, the DASH-style pattern led to lower systolic BP(SBP) (WMD=-2.29 mmHg, 95%CI: -3.20--1.38) (1 mmHg= 0.133 kPa)and diastolic BP(DBP) (WMD=-2.18 mmHg, 95%CI: -3.00--1.35) levels. Comparing with pre-DASH diet, the DASH diet was more effective in lowing SBP (WMD=-5.83 mmHg, 95% CI: -9.55--2.11)and DBP(WMD=-2.78 mmHg, 95%CI: -4.74--0.83). Comparing with the routine care (RC), the DASH diet was proved more effective than RC in lowing SBP(WMD=-4.98 mmHg, 95% CI: -7.37--2.59) and DBP(WMD=-1.47 mmHg, 95%CI: -2.53--0.41) in children and adolescents. The DASH diet was more effective in lowing SBP(WMD=-3.25 mmHg, 95%CI: -5.46--1.05)than DBP in children and adolescents. Conclusion This research suggested that DASH diet had a positive clinical efficacy on blood pressure in children and adolescents, and caused a greater decrease in SBP than in DBP. Key words: Blood pressure; Child; Adolescent; Meta-analysis; DASH diet