Abstract

Author(s): Dos Santos, Sofia Teodoro1; Ribeiro Andaki, Alynne Christian2; Magalhaes Guedes, Juliano3; Lacerda Mendes, Edmar2

Introduction: High blood pressure is a non-communicable chronic disease that affects thousands of people worldwide, increases cardiovascular risk and is associated with obesity in adults. On the other hand, in children, high blood pressure data and its association with outcomes such as overweigh/obesity remains scarce.

Objective: The objective of this study was to verify the prevalence of High Blood Pressure and the association with overweight/obesity in schoolchildren among 6-10 years old of Uberaba-MG.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional epidemiological, population-based study that included 1,014 schoolchildren ofboth sexes, 6-10 years old of public and private schools of the city of Uberaba-MG. The diagnosis of overweight and obesity was obtained by the values of body mass index and blood pressure was measured three times on three different days.

Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity were, respectively, 15.0% and 4.1% for girls and 11.8% and 6.1% for boys. While the prevalence of high blood pressure in girls was 12.0% and in boys was 10.6%. There was a significant association between overweight/obesity and high blood pressure (p <0.0001). Overweight and obese children were 4.1 times more likely to have high blood pressure than children without overweight/obesity (95% IC: 2.42-7.05).

Conclusion: Children among 6-10 years old overweight / obese are increased risk of hypertension development. Studies point out signal the need for guidance and change of children’s habits for minimizing the impact of hypertension in adulthood.