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If your children are overweight or obese, their risk of having high blood pressure is almost three times higher than children at normal weight,according to new research in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. A study of 1,111 healthy Indiana school children over a period of4.5 years revealed that when the children's body mass index (BMI)reached or passed the 85th percentile - the beginning of theoverweight category - the adiposity effect on blood pressure wasmore than four times that of normal weight children. Adiposity isfat under the skin and surrounding major organs. The absolute value of BMI is not used to classify weight status inchildren, because change in BMI is normal and expected as childrengrow and develop. Instead, BMI percentiles are used which adjustfor age and gender. Researchers found when children reached categories of overweight orobese, the influence of adiposity on blood pressure increased. "Higher blood pressure in childhood sets the stage for high bloodpressure in adulthood," said Wanzhu Tu, Ph.D., study lead authorand Professor of Biostatistics at Indiana University School ofMedicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. "Targeted interventions areneeded for these children. Even small decreases in BMI could yieldmajor health benefits." Among study participants, 14 percent of the blood pressuremeasurements from overweight/obese children were in prehypertensiveor hypertensive levels, compared to 5 percent in normal weightchildren. Blood levels of leptin, a hormone in fat tissues, andheart rate had a similar pattern as blood pressure. So leptin mayhave played a mediating role in obesity-induced blood pressureelevation, researchers said. The study reinforces the importance of separately consideringoverweight and obese children from those of normal weight;otherwise, the adiposity effect is overestimated in normal weightchildren and underestimated in overweight children. "The adiposity effects on blood pressure in children are not assimple as we thought," Tu said. On average, children in the study underwent 8.2 assessments each,for a total of 9,102 semi-annual blood pressure and height/weightassessments to determine BMI. The average enrollment age was 10.2years, with children stratified into 10 years and under, 11-14 and15 and older. Children with BMI percentile values over 85 percentwere considered overweight and those with BMI values over 95percent were considered obese. "Important questions that remain unanswered are what makes theblood pressure go up when you have an increase in the BMIpercentile and what mechanisms are involved in the process," Tusaid. "This study wasn't set up to answer those questions." Further study may determine how the increase in adiposity affectsblood pressure and whether other factors such as leptin, insulin orinflammatory cytokines may play a role. Healthcare providers and parents should pay attention to children'sweight, Tu said. "If they see a dramatic weight gain in a child whoalready is overweight, they need to intervene with behavioralmeasures, such as dietary changes and increased physical activity,to improve overall health and minimize cardiovascular risk." Additional References Citations. I am an expert from idaccessory.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Checkpoint Security Tag , China Lanyard Attachments, Retractable ID Badge Reels,and more.
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