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Prevalence of elevated blood pressure and association with overweight in children of a rapidly developing country

Abstract

We assessed the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (BP) and the association with excess body weight among a large sample of children in the Seychelles, a middle-income rapidly developing country in the African region. Weight, height and BP were measured in all children of four school grades in the Seychelles (Indian Ocean). Excess weight categories (‘overweight’ and ‘obesity’) were defined according to the criteria of the International Obesity Task Force. Two BP readings were obtained on one occasion. ‘Elevated BP’ was defined based on US reference tables. Data were available in 15 612 (86%) of 18 119 eligible children aged 5–16 years in 2002–2004. In all, 13.0% of Boys and 18.8% of girls were overweight or obese. The prevalence of elevated BP was 9.1% in boys and 10.1% in girls. Both systolic and diastolic BP were strongly associated with body mass index (BMI) in boys and in girls. In children with ‘normal weight’, ‘overweight (and not obesity)’ and ‘obesity’, respectively, proportions with elevated BP were 7.5, 16.9 and 25.2% in boys, and 7.5, 16.1 and 33.2% in girls. Overweight (including obesity) could account for 18% of cases of elevated BP in boys and 26% in girls. Further studies should examine the impact of the relationship between BMI and elevated BP on the burden of hypertension in the context of the epidemic of paediatric obesity.

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Acknowledgements

The school screening program, from which our data are derived, is part of regular activities by the Ministry of Health of Seychelles. Further partial support to the study came from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), the Rotary Club (Seychelles) and the World Health Organization. We are grateful to the health nurses for their dedication to the school health program and to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Seychelles for continued support to research related to non-communicable diseases.

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Correspondence to P Bovet.

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Results presented in part at the 16th meeting of the European Society of Hypertension, Madrid, 12–15 June 2006.

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Chiolero, A., Madeleine, G., Gabriel, A. et al. Prevalence of elevated blood pressure and association with overweight in children of a rapidly developing country. J Hum Hypertens 21, 120–127 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002125

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