BACKGROUND: The blood pressure (BP) increase with age is well documented in adults and children. However, in the pediatric age group, body size is the most important determinant of age-related BP increases. The aim of the present analysis was to investigate the relationships between age, gender, and body size and BP in children. METHODS: To this purpose, data were analyzed from 4,514 prepubertal children, aged 6-11 years (71% of the eligible sample; boys = 2,283, girls = 2,231) from the ARCA Project, a screening of childhood obesity carried out in southern Italy. Girls who reported the occurrence of menarche were excluded from the analysis. The sample constituted roughly 20% of all the children attending the primary schools in the area. Weight, height, waist circumference, and BP were measured according to standardized procedures. RESULTS: As expected, both systolic and diastolic BP significantly increased (P < 0.001) with age in boys and girls. However, after adjustment for waist circumference (as index of adiposity) and height (as index of body size), BP significantly increased with age only in girls (systolic BP: F = 4.380, P = 0.002; diastolic BP: F = 3.093, P = 0.01) but not in boys (systolic BP: F = 0.711, P = 0.55; diastolic BP: F = 2.180, P = 0.07). The association, however, was no longer apparent after the exclusion of children aged >10 years. CONCLUSIONS: In prepubertal girls in the age range 6-11 years, but not in boys, age is significantly associated with BP independently of body size and adiposity.
BACKGROUND: The blood pressure (BP) increase with age is well documented in adults and children. However, in the pediatric age group, body size is the most important determinant of age-related BP increases. The aim of the present analysis was to investigate the relationships between age, gender, and body size and BP in children. METHODS: To this purpose, data were analyzed from 4,514 prepubertal children, aged 6-11 years (71% of the eligible sample; boys = 2,283, girls = 2,231) from the ARCA Project, a screening of childhood obesity carried out in southern Italy. Girls who reported the occurrence of menarche were excluded from the analysis. The sample constituted roughly 20% of all the children attending the primary schools in the area. Weight, height, waist circumference, and BP were measured according to standardized procedures. RESULTS: As expected, both systolic and diastolic BP significantly increased (P < 0.001) with age in boys and girls. However, after adjustment for waist circumference (as index of adiposity) and height (as index of body size), BP significantly increased with age only in girls (systolic BP: F = 4.380, P = 0.002; diastolic BP: F = 3.093, P = 0.01) but not in boys (systolic BP: F = 0.711, P = 0.55; diastolic BP: F = 2.180, P = 0.07). The association, however, was no longer apparent after the exclusion of children aged >10 years. CONCLUSIONS: In prepubertal girls in the age range 6-11 years, but not in boys, age is significantly associated with BP independently of body size and adiposity.
Authors: G Barba; C Buck; K Bammann; C Hadjigeorgiou; A Hebestreit; S Mårild; D Molnár; P Russo; T Veidebaum; K Vyncke; W Ahrens; L A Moreno Journal: Int J Obes (Lond) Date: 2014-09 Impact factor: 5.095
Authors: Airton C Martins; Ana Carolina B Almeida Lopes; Mariana R Urbano; Maria de Fatima H Carvalho; Ana Maria R Silva; Alexey A Tinkov; Michael Aschner; Arthur E Mesas; Ellen K Silbergeld; Monica M B Paoliello Journal: Ecotoxicol Environ Saf Date: 2020-11-20 Impact factor: 6.291
Authors: Yu-Hsuan Shih; Caitlin G Howe; Molly Scannell Bryan; Mohammad Shahriar; Muhammad G Kibriya; Farzana Jasmine; Golam Sarwar; Joseph H Graziano; Victoria W Persky; Brian Jackson; Habibul Ahsan; Shohreh F Farzan; Maria Argos Journal: Environ Epidemiol Date: 2021-02-11