Objective@#To explore the
association of
body fat mass and distribution indices including fat mass percentage (FMP),
visceral fat area (VFA) and percentage of trunk fat mass (%TFM) with
blood pressure in
children to inform early management of
blood pressure in
children.@*
Methods@#Based on the
Beijing Child Growth and
Health Cohort in Shunyi District,
lifestyle questionnaire survey, baseline and follow up
physical examination were conducted among
children from October to November 2018 and September 2020.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) was used to
measure the
body composition, and 1 098 participants with completed data were finally included.@*Results@#Both
body fat indices and
blood pressure increased with age in
boys and
girls. For FMP, VFA, and %TFM, no significant differences presented between
sex at baseline, while FMP, VFA, and %TFM were significantly higher in
boys than
girls at follow up ( t=2.73, 3.76, 3.41, P <0.01). Before and after adjusting for age, height and
lifestyles or not, linear mixed effect models showed longitudinal
associations existing between
body fat indices and
blood pressure in both
boys and
girls ( β=0.64-3.48, P <0.05). The
association coefficients of
body fat indices with systolic
blood pressure were ranked as %TFM>FMP>VFA in both
boys and
girls. The
association coefficients of
body fat indices with diastolic
blood pressure were ranked sequentially as FMP>%TFM>VFA in
boys, and VFA>FMP>%TFM in
girls.@*Conclusion@#Longitudinal
associations are observed between
body fat indices and
blood pressure in
children.
Primordial prevention of high
pressure should pay
attention on
body fat distribution.