Association of body mass index with blood pressure among adolescent schoolchildren in South India: A population-based analytical cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Obesity turned out to be an important health issue and has become an epidemic in adolescent schoolchildren in recent days. Obesity is independently associated with late-onset diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and other cardiovascular diseases. Diagnosing overweight and obesity and their relation with blood pressure (BP) among adolescent schoolchildren will help in the primary prevention of such chronic diseases. Aims and Objectives: The study with the primary aim is to find the association between body mass index (BMI) one of the most used indices of obesity and BP in adolescent schoolchildren belonging to three different areas (urban, semi-urban, and rural areas) of the same city and also tried to compare these three groups with their BMI and BP. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was part of a school health program involving healthy adolescent schoolchildren. A total of 2494 adolescent schoolchildren in the age group of 13–17 years were examined for BMI and BP along with other health parameters and systemic examinations. The data obtained were analyzed statistically to arrive at a correlation between BMI and BP. Results: The mean BMI value in all age groups showed a gradual increase with age and girls override boys. Children from urban schools had higher BMI than the other two groups. The mean systolic BP and diastolic BP (DBP) also showed higher in children from urban and semi-urban areas than in rural areas. The systolic and DBP showed a positive correlation with BMI (<0.01). Conclusion: Our study showed a positive and significant correlation between BMI and both systolic and DBP individually (P < 0.01). Hence, health education to be recommended from childhood to prevent overweight, obesity, and thereby hypertension at a primordial level.