Association of sociodemographic factors, lifestyle behaviors, anthropometric measures, and cardiometabolic health markers with blood pressure in adolescents: a cross-sectional analysis

Objective: To analyze the influence of different number of blood pressure measurement on the detection of elevated blood pressure in Tibetan adolescents and provide scientific reference for standardizing the number of blood pressure measurement and accurately diagnosing elevated blood pressure in adolescents. Methods: Data were from the project "survey of the risk factors for elevated blood pressure among Tibetan adolescents" conducted from August to September 2018 in Shigatse in Tibet. A total of 2 822 Tibetan adolescents aged 12-17 years, including 1 275 boys (45.2%), were recruited by a convenient, stratified cluster sampling method. Each participant underwent three consecutive blood pressure measurements. Elevated blood pressure was defined according to the Health Industry Criterion of China: WS/T 610-2018 "Reference of screening for elevated blood pressure among children and adolescents aged 7-18 years" . Analysis of variance and χ(2) test were used to analyze the effect of different blood pressure measurement on blood pressure levels and detection of elevated blood pressure, respectively. Results: SBP and DBP decreased substantially across three consecutive blood pressure measurements[SBP: (112.7±9.7), (110.7±9.7) and (110.2±9.5) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa); DBP: (62.7±8.2), (61.1±8.5) and (60.6±8.5) mmHg; P value for trend<0.001]. The detection rates of elevated blood pressure based on three blood pressure measurements were 12.8%, 8.7% and 7.9%, respectively (P value for trend <0.001). Of note, the difference in the detection of elevated blood pressure based on the second blood pressure measurement or based on the average value of the second and third blood pressure measurements showed no significance (8.7% and 7.2%, P=0.039). Conclusions: Blood pressure levels and the detection of elevated blood pressure in adolescents decreased substantially across three consecutive blood pressure measurements. The second blood pressure measurement might be sufficient for screening elevated blood pressure in adolescents.

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The pathogenesis of hypertension begins in youth. An estimated 4% of US adolescents have diagnosed hypertension and 17% have elevated blood pressures, predisposing them to hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. There is limited research on the clustering of CVD risk factors such as tobacco exposure and weight status that may be associated with high blood pressure in adolescents. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine the relationships between total smoke exposure (TSE; cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke), waist circumference, and blood pressure in a sample of rural adolescents, ages 15-18. A convenience sample of 148 adolescents ages 15-18 was recruited from two rural high schools (88 female and 60 male, all Caucasian). Adolescents were assessed for tobacco exposure (self-report, salivary cotinine), weight status (body mass index, waist circumference), and blood pressure. Self-report measures of tobacco exposure included the Uptake Continuum and Peer and Family Smoking measure. Age, gender, waist circumference and salivary cotinine contributed to 35% of the variance in systolic blood pressure and 18% in diastolic blood pressure. One-fourth (25%) of adolescent males and 11% of adolescent females had elevated systolic blood pressures. Approximately one-fifth of the sample (22%) had elevated salivary cotinine levels indicative of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. TSE and waist circumference were predictors of elevated blood pressure in adolescents. Public health measures need to address clusters of risk factors including blood pressure, tobacco exposure, and weight status among adolescents in order to reduce CVD.

The prevalence of high blood pressure in adolescence is increasing with the number of adolescence at risk of overweight or overweight. Due to the known relationship between high blood pressure and increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke, this is an obvious health concern for adolescent children. PURPOSE: To characterize the incidence of high normal blood pressure and hypertension in a large population of ninth grade, physical education students. METHODS: 884 ninth grade, physical education students (14 ± 1 yrs) participated. Blood pressure was initially recorded with an automated device (Omron, HEM-907XL). If the initial automated reading was above 120/80 mmHg, then a manual ausculatory re-measurement was taken. Blood pressure was classified as high normal blood pressure if the reading fell between the 90th and 95th percentile based on the CDC growth charts (National high blood pressure education program working group on high blood pressure in children and adolescents, 2001), while hypertension was defined as a reading above the 95th percentile. Frequency of high normal blood pressure and hypertension was calculated for two groups based on BMI: at risk for being overweight or overweight students and normal weight students. RESULTS: Overall, 8.5% of students were classified as having high normal blood pressure and 4.8% were considered hypertensive. The incidence was greater for high normal blood pressure for the at risk for being overweight or overweight group (11.9%) compared to the normal weight students (7.4%). Hypertension was present in 7.3% of the at risk for being overweight or overweight population and 3.9% of the normal weight population. The at risk for being overweight or overweight group and normal weight group had a mean systolic blood pressure of 117.5 ± 9 mmHg and 112.8 ±10 mmHg, respectively, and a mean diastolic blood pressure of 64.7 ± 7 mmHg and 61.2 ± 8 mmHg, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data indicates that a large percentage of the at risk for being overweight or overweight population (19.2%) has elevated blood pressure. At risk for being overweight or overweight students have a greater incidence of high normal blood pressure, and are twice as likely as normal weight students to have hypertension. The at risk for being overweight or overweight group also has a higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure values. This is alarming because elevated blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of CAD and stroke, and is in itself a progressive chronic disease.

Birthweight, postnatal growth and blood pressure in adolescents of low socioeconomic condition: a cohort study in Northeast Brazil

Association between perfluoroalkyl substance concentrations and blood pressure in adolescents

IntroductionSnus is suggested as a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease, but little is known about health effects in young populations, particularly in women. We aimed to investigate associations between snus and cardiometabolic health markers among young men and women.Aims and MethodsThis study was conducted within the BAMSE (Swedish acronym for Children, Allergy, Environment, Stockholm, Epidemiology) birth cohort and included participants followed up around 24 years (n = 2256) and 26 years (n = 1011). Snus use was assessed at 24 years by questionnaires. Cardiometabolic health markers were recorded at clinical examinations at 24 and 26 years. Associations between snus use and cardiometabolic markers were assessed by multivariable linear regression.ResultsSnus was used by 6.4% (n = 81) among women and 21.9% (n = 219) among men. Compared to no tobacco use, daily exclusive snus use among women at 24 years was associated with higher body mass index (BMI) (adjusted β: 1.93 kg/m2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.54, 3.33) and waist circumference (WC) (aβ: 3.80 cm, 95% CI = 0.41, 7.18) at 24 years, and with higher BMI (aβ: 2.73 kg/m2, 95% CI = 0.53 to 4.93) at 26 years. Among men, using ≥4 cans/week was associated with increased BMI (aβ: 2.48 kg/m2, 95% CI = 0.73, 4.24) and a tendency toward increased body fat (aβ: 2.31%, 95% CI = −0.53, 5.14) at 26 years. Snus use was not associated with glycemic status or blood pressure.ConclusionsOur results suggest that snus is associated with increased BMI, and possibly other measures of adiposity, among young women and heavy-using young men. Given the cross-sectional study design, the results should be interpreted with caution.ImplicationsWe found cross-sectional associations between snus use and measures of increased adiposity in a cohort of Swedish young adults, including BMI and WC among women and BMI among heavy snus-using men. We did not find associations between snus use and body fat %, glycemic status, or blood pressure. This is one of few studies to investigate the health effect of snus among both women and men as well as cardiometabolic health markers in young adults. Given the recent trends of increased snus use among young adults, our findings highlight the need for further research on snus on cardiometabolic health.

Adolescents are nutritionally vulnerable, and their intake is crucial to avoid nutritional problems during growth. Adolescent food consumption can be obtained from various types of food, one of them ultra-processed food (UPF). This study aims to determine the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption patterns and nutritional status and blood pressure in Catholic Junior High School Sudiang adolescents and Christian Elim High School Makassar. Methods: This study is a quantitative descriptive study with a cross-sectional design. The sample was selected using a proportional random sampling technique of 195 adolescents aged 13-18. UPF consumption was collected using the Semi Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQ-FFQ). The research results show adolescents are overweight at 25.6% and obese at 21%; elevated blood pressure (BP) is 14.4%, and state hypertension (HTN) is 8.2%. In addition, obese adolescents with state 1 HTN were 17.1% and elevated BP by 24.4%, while overweight adolescents with state 1 HTN were 8% and elevated BP by 14%. There is a correlation between the amount of UPF consumption and nutritional status (p-value = 0.047). At the same time, the results were negative between the frequency of UPF consumption and nutritional status (p-value = 0.312), the amount of UPF consumption and BP (p-value = 0.289), and the frequency of UPF consumption and BP (p-value = 0.059). The study concludes a significant correlation between the amount of ultra-processed food consumption and nutritional status in adolescents. Further research and public health interventions are recommended to address the impact of UPF on adolescent health.

Background Pediatric hypertension is an emerging health issue due to its increasing prevalence. Age-, gender-, and height-specific blood pressure percentiles have been widely used as a primary tool for detection of hypertension in the pediatric population. However, this method is too complicated to be used in general pediatric practice. The blood pressure to height ratio has been proposed as a practical tool to detect hypertension in children.&#x0D; Objective To evaluate the accuracy of blood pressure to height ratio to be used as a tool for screening high blood pressure in Indonesian adolescents.&#x0D; Methods This diagnostic test study using data from the 2013 Indonesia Basic Health Research (Riset Kesehatan Dasar/RISKESDAS) report included 39,057 adolescents aged 15-18 years with complete data on age, gender, weight, height, and blood pressure. Blood pressure values were classified using the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hypertension clinical guidelines. Blood pressure to height ratio was calculated as mmHg/cm body height. A receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of systolic blood pressure to height ratio (SBPHR) and diastolic blood pressure to height ratio (DBPHR) for screening high blood pressure in adolescents. The optimal cut-off points, sensitivity, and specificity of SBPHR and DBPHR were calculated.&#x0D; Results The optimal cut-off points for defining elevated blood pressure in male adolescents aged 13-18 years were SBPHR 0.69 for male adolescents (sensitivity 96%, specificity 80%) and DBPHR 0.46 (sensitivity 97%, specificity 84%). In female adolescents, the optimal cut-offs were SBPHR 0.72 (sensitivity 97%, specificity 82%) and DBPHR 0.48 (sensitivity 98% and specificity 79%).&#x0D; Conclusion Blood pressure to height ratio is a practical method with high sensitivity and specificity for detecting elevated blood pressure in Indonesian adolescents aged 15 to 18 years.

Although insufficient sleep has been shown to contribute to obesity-related elevated blood pressure, the circadian timing of sleep has emerged as a novel risk factor. We hypothesized that deviations in sleep midpoint, a measure of circadian timing of sleep, modify the association between visceral adiposity and elevated blood pressure in adolescents. We studied 303 subjects from the Penn State Child Cohort (16.2±2.2 years; 47.5% female; 21.5% racial/ethnic minority). Actigraphy-measured sleep duration, midpoint, variability, and regularity were calculated across a 7-night period. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure levels were measured in the seated position. Multivariable linear regression models tested sleep midpoint and its regularity as effect modifiers of VAT on SBP/diastolic blood pressure levels, while adjusting for demographic and sleep covariables. These associations were also examined as a function of being in-school or on-break. Significant interactions were found between VAT and sleep irregularity, but not sleep midpoint, on SBP (P interaction=0.007) and diastolic blood pressure (P interaction=0.022). Additionally, significant interactions were found between VAT and schooldays sleep midpoint on SBP (P interaction=0.026) and diastolic blood pressure (P interaction=0.043), whereas significant interactions were found between VAT and on-break weekdays sleep irregularity on SBP (P interaction=0.034). A delayed and an irregular sleep midpoint during school and during free-days, respectively, increase the impact of VAT on elevated blood pressure in adolescents. These data suggest that deviations in the circadian timing of sleep contribute to the increased cardiovascular sequelae associated with obesity and that its distinct metrics require measurement under different entrainment conditions in adolescents.

BackgroundAlthough preterm birth predisposes for cardiovascular disease, recent studies in children indicate normal blood pressure and arterial stiffness. This prospective cohort study therefore assessed blood pressure and arterial stiffness in adolescents born very preterm due to verified fetal growth restriction (FGR).MethodsAdolescents (14 (13–17) years; 52% girls) born very preterm with FGR (preterm FGR; n = 24) and two control groups born with appropriate birth weight (AGA), one in similar gestation (preterm AGA; n = 27) and one at term (term AGA; n = 28) were included. 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and distensibility by magnetic resonance imaging were acquired.ResultsThere were no group differences in prevalence of hypertension or in arterial stiffness (all p ≥ 0.1). In boys, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressures increased from term AGA to preterm AGA to preterm FGR with higher daytime and 24-hour mean arterial blood pressures in the preterm FGR as compared to the term AGA group. In girls, no group differences were observed (all p ≥ 0.1).ConclusionsVery preterm birth due to FGR is associated with higher, yet normal blood pressure in adolescent boys, suggesting an existing but limited impact of very preterm birth on cardiovascular risk in adolescence, enhanced by male sex and FGR.ImpactVery preterm birth due to fetal growth restriction was associated with higher, yet normal blood pressure in adolescent boys.In adolescence, very preterm birth due to fetal growth restriction was not associated with increased thoracic aortic stiffness.In adolescence, very preterm birth in itself showed an existing but limited effect on blood pressure and thoracic aortic stiffness.Male sex and fetal growth restriction enhanced the effect of preterm birth on blood pressure in adolescence.Male sex and fetal growth restriction should be considered as additional risk factors to that of preterm birth in cardiovascular risk stratification.

To establish whether associations between sedentary behavior and cardiometabolic health differ when assessed by thigh-worn and waist-worn accelerometry. Participants were recruited from several areas in the United Kingdom. Sedentary behavior was assessed using the activPAL worn on the thigh and ActiGraph worn on the waist. Average total (TST), prolonged (bouts ≥30 min; PST) and breaks (BST) in sedentary time were calculated. Cardiometabolic health markers included: adiposity (body fat) and surrogate markers of adiposity ((waist circumference, body mass index [BMI]), lipids (total, low density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol, triglycerides), blood pressure, and glucose (fasting, 2 h and glycated hemoglobin A1c). A clustered cardiometabolic risk score was calculated. Linear regression analysis examined the associations with cardiometabolic health. There were 1457 participants (mean age [± standard deviation], 59.38 ± 11.85 yr; 51.7% male; mean BMI, 30.19 ± 5.59 kg·m) included in the analyses. ActivPAL and ActiGraph sedentary variables were moderately correlated (0.416-0.511, P < 0.01); however, all variables were significantly different from each other (P < 0.05). Consistency was observed across devices in the direction and magnitude of associations of TST and PST with adiposity, surrogate markers of adiposity, HDL, triglycerides, and cardiometabolic risk score and for BST with adiposity, surrogate markers of adiposity, and cardiometabolic risk. Differences across devices were observed in associations of TST and PST with diastolic blood pressure, for TST with 2-h glucose and for BST with HDL. No other associations were observed for any other health marker for either device. Results suggest that associations with cardiometabolic health are largely comparable across the two common assessments of sedentary behavior but some small differences may exist for certain health markers.

This study was intended to clarify the relation between fasting insulin, lipids, and blood pressure in adolescents before the onset of hypertension and to examine the association of these data with similar data obtained in their parents. The participants in this study were 183 adolescents 14 to 18 years old (96 girls) completing a 4-year intervention trial and their parents (164 mothers, 122 fathers). Blood pressure was measured twice on the right arm in a seated position using a random-zero sphygmomanometer. Fasting blood samples were obtained for lipid and insulin analyses. Fasting insulin was significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure in the adolescents and also in the parents before and after adjustment for body mass index. Fasting insulin was correlated significantly with levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and HDL and LDL cholesterol in the adolescents. It was correlated only with triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol in mothers and fathers. After adjustment for body mass index, the correlations between fasting insulin and lipids in the children were not significant. A significant relation was shown between children's systolic blood pressure and mothers' fasting insulin and systolic blood pressure. Significant correlations were found between the children's and fathers' triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol, whereas significant correlations were found for fasting insulin and all lipids between mothers and children, and these remained significant after adjustment for body mass index. These results show (1) a significant relation between fasting insulin and both lipids and systolic blood pressure in adolescents and (2) a significant relation for these factors between adolescents and their parents. Although weight appears to play an important role in this relation during adolescence, genetic and environmental factors other than those mediated via weight may control insulin metabolism within families. The data support a role for studies during early biological development to address these issues.

To investigate the relationship between anthropometric parameters and elevated blood pressure in adolescents, we measured blood pressure (BP), height, weight, triceps skinfold (TSF) thickness, waist circumference (WC), and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) in 2,860 student volunteers aged 11-17 years in Kayseri, Turkey. Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-arm-span ratio (WASR), body mass index (BMI), arm-fat area (AFA), and fat percentage (FP) were also calculated. Participants were divided into two groups: hypertensive [systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 95th percentiles, n = 246] and normotensives (SBP or DBP < 95th percentiles, n = 2614). Multiple logistic regression models were produced within these groups for the examined risk factors, and cutoff points were investigated for SBP or DBP ≥ 95th percentiles using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. BMI, WC, WHtR, WASR, MUAC, and BMI had statistically significant cutoffs among boys. Whereas BMI, WHtR, WASR, WC, MUAC, AFA, and TSF were statistically significant for girls younger than 15, only BMI and WC were statistically significant for participants older than 15. The independent risk factors for elevated BP were determined according to BMI and WC. Although several anthropometric measurements were significant in our participants, BMI and WC were significant among all participants irrespective of age and sex.

Background Obesity and obesity-related diseases are one of the common health problems worldwide and have also been proposed to be important predictors of blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. The aim of our study is to determine the utility of different anthropometric measurements (body mass index [BMI], skinfold thickness [SFT], waist circumference [WC], mid-upper arm circumference [MUAC], arm circumference-height ratio [AHtR], and waist circumference-height ratio [WHtR]) as markers of hypertension (HT) risk in adolescents. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 544 participants aged between 12 and 13 years were included. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure of participants were measured. The association of different anthropometric measurements with blood pressure was evaluated. Results The frequency of both elevated blood pressure and HT was 30.2%. Biceps, triceps, and suprailiac SFT have an impact on HT in girls but only suprailiac SFT in boys. WC measurements above the 85th percentile were strongly correlated with HT conditions, and this relationship was stronger in boys than in girls (3.3 vs. 2.6 fold). MUAC, WHtR, and AHtR measurements also have strong correlation with HT in boys but only WHtR has a poor relation in girls. In boys and girls with obesity, there was a positive association between obesity and blood pressures. Conclusions Not only age-related BMI z scores but also a number of other anthropometric measurements, such as WC, SFT, MUAC, WHtR, and AHtR, could have an influence on high blood pressure. The influence changes with gender during adolescence.