Abstract
BackgroundFew studies have examined whether dietary factors might affect blood pressure in children. We purposed to investigate whether seaweed intake is associated with blood pressure level among Japanese preschool children.MethodsThe design of the study was cross-sectional and it was conducted in autumn 2006. Subjects were healthy preschoolers aged 3-6 years in Aichi, Japan. Blood pressure and pulse were measured once by an automated sphygmomanometer, which uses oscillometric methods. Dietary data, including seaweed intake, were assessed using 3-day dietary records covering 2 consecutive weekdays and 1 weekend day. Of a total of 533 children, 459 (86.1 percent) agreed to be enrolled in our study. Finally, blood pressure measurement, complete dietary records and parent-reported height and weight were obtained for 223 boys and 194 girls.ResultsWhen we examined Spearman's correlation coefficients, seaweed intake was significantly negatively related to systolic blood pressure in girls (P = 0.008). In the one-way analysis of covariance for blood pressure and pulse after adjustments for age and BMI, the boys with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake had diastolic blood pressure readings of 62.8, 59.3 and 59.6 mmHg, respectively (P = 0.11, trend P = 0.038). Girls with higher seaweed intake had significantly lower systolic blood pressure readings (102.4, 99.2 and 96.9 mmHg for girls with the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of seaweed intake, respectively; P = 0.037, trend P = 0.030).ConclusionOur study showed that seaweed intake was negatively related to diastolic blood pressure in boys and to systolic blood pressure in girls. This suggests that seaweed might have beneficial effects on blood pressure among children.
Highlights
Few studies have examined whether dietary factors might affect blood pressure in children
Hypertension is generally unusual among children, but many studies have shown the tracking of blood pressure from childhood to adulthood [2], and some studies have indicated that the process of atherosclerosis starts in childhood [3,4]
Several studies have demonstrated the negative associations of blood pressure with calcium and magnesium among children [16,17,18,19], but very few researchers have examined whether the other dietary factors might affect blood pressure in childhood [19,20,21]
Summary
Few studies have examined whether dietary factors might affect blood pressure in children. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet), which is rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, has beneficial effects on blood pressure among adults [5,6,7,8]. The diet is rich in potassium and calcium, which have been reported to reduce blood pressure among adults [8,9,13]. A negative association between magnesium and blood pressure has been reported among adults in some papers [10,11,13]. The role of diet in blood pressure among children is not well understood
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