Abstract
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence of abnormal weight and anthropometric parameters along with abnormal blood pressure values in adolescents in Poland. Anthropometric measurements were taken in the studied age group and the correlation between these values and blood pressure values and the diagnosis of hypertension was analyzed. The main aim of the study was to characterize the particular age group in the selected population: 690 students aged 15–17 years were examined. Blood pressure and anthropometric values including height, weight, circumferences of the hips, abdomen and arms, as well as skinfolds on the back of the arm, below the scapula and the stomach, were taken. The following indexes were calculated: WHR (waist to hip ratio), WHtR (waist to height ratio), BAI (body adiposity index-hip to height ratio) and BMI (body mass index). Mean SBP (systolic blood pressure) was 112.3 (standard deviation (SD) 12.2) mmHg, and DBP (diastolic blood pressure) was 66.9 (SD 6.9) mmHg. The prevalence of hypertension in the studied group was 5.8% (3.2% boys, 2.6% girls) and prehypertension was present in 4.4% (1.6% boys, 2.8% girls). The prevalence of excess body weight was 23.6%-obesity 11.3% (40 girls, 27 boys) and overweight 12.3% (50 girls, 34 boys). Correlations between BMI and waist, hip and arm circumference, subscapular and abdominal skinfold thickness, WHtR and BAI were r = 0.86, r = 0.84, r = 0.88, r = 0.81, r = 0.75, r = 0.88 and r = 0.81, respectively (p < 0.05). Significant differences (p < 0.05) of SBP and DBP values, depending on weight category, as defined by BMI, were observed. Abnormal blood pressure values occur in one tenth and abnormal body weight in almost a quarter of the studied population. Obese and overweight children have higher SBP and DBP values compared to children with normal body weight.
Highlights
In all developed and developing countries, there is a tendency for diagnosing essential hypertension in younger children, which goes hand-in-hand with the observed parallel increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the pediatric population [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
It has been proven that 80% of obese adolescents will become obese adults and that obesity complications observed in adulthood begin to develop in childhood [11,12,13]
Height measurement analysis showed the compliance of relevant growth quantile with growth charts for children from Warsaw, which proves that the study group is representative and implies that further conclusions concerning the analyzed age group are correct
Summary
In all developed and developing countries, there is a tendency for diagnosing essential hypertension in younger children, which goes hand-in-hand with the observed parallel increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the pediatric population [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. It is estimated that in Europe, one in five children are overweight or obese. It is estimated that number of overweight children will rise up to 1.3 million in Europe per year, including. Polish epidemiological data concerning this age group are not very comparable, as they are based on different materials and different research methods. On this basis, it can be estimated only with some degree of probability that 15–30% of Polish children during adolescence are overweight or obese. The main determinants of arterial hypertension in the adolescent population are the body mass index
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