Association of active behavior, body mass index, blood pressure and inflammatory cytokine in adolescents / Associação do comportamento ativo, índice de massa corporal, pressão arterial e citocinas inflamatórias em adolescentes
To investigate the association of active behavior, body mass index (BMI), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with serum levels of inflammatory interleukins in adolescents. Methods Cross-sectional population-based study of adolescents from public schools in São Luís, Maranhão. A theoretical model was built, based on Structural Equation Modeling, to explore the effects of the latent variable "active behavior" adjusted for socioeconomic status and gender, with effects on BMI, DBP and inflammatory load. Results Active behavior was associated with lower DBP values (standardized coefficient (SC) = -0.146; p = 0.029), while higher BMI was associated with higher DBP values (SC = 0.177; p < 0.001). For the highest values of active behavior there was a higher inflammatory load (SC = 0.442; p < 0.001); and a higher BMI was associated with a higher inflammatory burden (SC = 0.145; p = 0.025). Femalegender had a higher inflammatory burden (SC = 0.282; p < 0.001). There was an indirect effect for females on lower inflammatory load values via reduction in active behavior (SC = -0.155; p < 0.001). Conclusion Active behavior reduces blood pressure levels in adolescents; while the increase in inflammatory cytokines induced by active behavior may be involved in their anti-inflammatory response for disease prevention.