Effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention for pre-hypertension and hypertension among school children of age group 13-17 years in an urban area in Eastern Maharashtra: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure in children and adolescents is a growing health problem, along with the worldwide epidemics of obesity and physical inactivity. The exact magnitude of the problem remains unknown as measuring the blood pressure is not a norm in the child clinics. Though several risk factors are known, but intervention to curb them have not been studied. This trial aims to assess the effectiveness of an integrated lifestyle modification intervention on mean blood pressure levels of the hypertensive and prehypertensive adolescents of the age group 13-17 years from the intervention group as compared to the control that receives on dietary modification advice along with the existent standard of care.