Measurements of adiposity and high blood pressure among children and adolescents living in Belo Horizonte.

OBJECTIVE: To verify an association, if it exists, between obesity and blood pressure raised beyond the 90th percentile in children and adolescents, and to determine the measure of adiposity that best correlates with blood pressure in these subjects. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: A school-based study in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: We selected randomly 1,403 students, aged from 6 to 18 years, from 545,046 students attending 521 public and private schools. Those selected completed the study. MAIN MEASURES OF OUTCOME: We recorded the weight, height, skin fold in the triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac areas, waist and hip circumference, body-mass index, and resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures using a mercury sphygmomanometer. RESULTS: In univariate analyses, body mass index greater or lesser than 85th percentile, measurements of skin thickness in the subscapular and suprailiac areas, and the sum of all measurements of skinfold thickness, were associated with both systolic and diastolic measurements of blood pressure. After multivariate analyses that adjusted for all measurements of adiposity except itself, and age, race, and socioeconomic state, we found that the increased body mass index was associated with a 3.6-fold increased frequency of elevated systolic measurements of blood pressure, with 95% confidence intervals from 2.2 to 5.8, and a 2.7-fold increased frequency of elevated measurements of diastolic blood pressure, with 95% confidence intervals from 1.9 to 4.0. CONCLUSIONS: Body-mass index serves as a better predictor of elevated blood pressure among children than do local measurements of adiposity.

[Additional cardiovascular risk factors associated with excess weight in children and adolescents: the Belo Horizonte heart study]. / Fatores adicionais de risco cardiovascular associados ao excesso de peso em crianças e adolescentes. O estudo do coração de Belo Horizonte.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of overweight and obesity with physical activity, blood pressure (BP) and serum lipid profiles. METHODS: Epidemiologic investigation of 1,450 students, between the ages of 6 and 18, in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG. DATA: weight, height, BP, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, physical activity, total cholesterol (TC), LDL-c, HDL-c, and dietary habits. RESULTS: The prevalence rates for overweight and obesity were 8.4% and 3.1%, respectively. In relation to the students in the lower quartile (Q1) of the distribution of subscapular skinfold, the students in the upper quartile (Q4) presented a 3.7 times higher risk (odds ratio) of having elevated TC levels. Overweight and obese students had a 3.6 times higher risk of having elevated systolic blood pressure, and a 2.7 times higher risk of elevated diastolic blood pressure when compared to normal weight students. The less active students in the Q1 of distribution of MET presented a 3.8 times higher risk of having elevated TC levels compared to those who were more active (Q4). CONCLUSION: Students who were overweight, obese or in the upper quartiles for other adiposity variables, as well as students with low levels of physical activity or a sedentary lifestyle presented higher blood pressure levels and a lipid profile indicative of an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Fatores adicionais de risco cardiovascular associados ao excesso de peso em crianças e adolescentes: o estudo do coração de Belo Horizonte / Additional cardiovascular risk factors associated with excess weigth in children and adolescents: the Belo Horizonte heart study

OBJETIVO: Examinar a associação de sobrepeso e obesidade com perfis de atividade física, pressão arterial (PA) e lípides séricos. MÉTODOS: Inquérito epidemiológico com 1.450 estudantes - seis a dezoito anos, em Belo Horizonte-MG. Dados: peso, altura, PA, espessura de pregas cutâneas, circunferência das cinturas, atividade física, colesterol total (CT), LDL-c, HDL-c, e hábitos alimentares. RESULTADOS:Prevalências de sobrepeso e obesidade foram 8,4 por cento e 3,1 por cento. Em relação aos estudantes situados no quartil inferior (Q1) da distribuição da prega subescapular, os estudantes do quartil superior (Q4) apresentaram um risco (odds ratio) 3,7 vezes maior de ter um CT aumentado. Os estudantes com sobrepeso e obesos tiveram 3,6 vezes mais risco de apresentar PA sistólica aumentada, e 2,7 vezes para PA diastólica aumentada, em relação aos estudantes com peso normal. Os estudantes menos ativos, no Q1 da distribuição de MET, apresentaram 3,8 vezes mais riscos de terem CT aumentado comparados com os mais ativos (Q4). CONCLUSÃO: Estudantes com sobrepeso ou obesos ou nos quartis superiores para outras variáveis de adiposidade, assim como os estudantes com baixos níveis de atividade física ou sedentários apresentaram níveis mais elevados de PA e perfil lipídico de risco aumentado para o desenvolvimento de aterosclerose.