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Would Overweight Children Be At Risk of Hypertension?
 

There is no doubt that hypertension (high blood pressure) is always associated with overweight or obese adults. Being one of the risk factors for other medical disorders including stroke, myocardial infarction and heart failure, hypertension is also a leading cause of chronic kidney failure.

In the midst of fighting childhood obesity epidemic, a question might hover around some people’s mind: would overweight or obese children be at risk of hypertension?

In a paper presented at the American Heart Association's High Blood Pressure Research 2010 Scientific Sessions (HBPR 2010) held in Washington, DC, USA, researchers from the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis reported that an increase in BMI in already overweight children would be at higher risk of having a far greater rise in blood pressure than those normal-weight children with the same increase in BMI.

BMI stands for body mass index, which is a widely used measure of body fat based on height and weight. It is calculated by dividing weight (kilos) by the square of height (meters). However, BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat.

While BMI is calculated the same way as for adults, it is used differently for children. As a guideline, people aged below 20 with a BMI between 85 and 95 percent point are considered to be overweight.

The study is believed to be very important for everyone as it helps general population to understand the significant cardiovascular risk caused by childhood obesity, and the simple fact that weight reduction and exercise could have a major and positive impact.

Blood pressure, height and weight measurements of 1,113 children were tracked for a period up to 10 years, and their BMIs were compared with national charts adjusted for age, sex and height. Researchers found that for children with BMIs below 85 percent point, BMI effects on blood pressure appeared fairly linear, but for those above the 85 percent point, especially above the 90 percent point, the BMI effects were noticeably stronger.

Analysis on the results showed that effect on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings of overweight children was 4.6 times that of normal-weight children for whom BMI and blood pressure remained related but with weaker associations.

As explained by the researchers, BMI and blood pressure studies usually did not separate normal-weight and overweight children causing the findings to overestimate BMI’s effect on blood pressure on normal-weight kids but underestimate that on overweight children.

The new study attempted to rectify such bias, and found that the BMI effect was much greater in overweight children. As such, a modest reduction in BMI can result in a significant lowering of blood pressure in overweight children. On the other hand, a small increase in BMI could put them at much greater risk of higher blood pressure.

In general, when a person has a blood pressure that is 140/90 mmHg or above each time it is taken, this person is said to have high blood pressure. The top number 140 is the systolic blood pressure, which is a measure of the force of the blood pumped by the heart against the arteries when the heart is contracted. The bottom number 90 is the diastolic blood pressure that is a measure of the force of the blood against the arteries when the heart is relaxed.

While high blood pressure frequently occurs without any symptoms, some hypertensive adults might experience symptoms like headache, dizziness, shortness of breath and blurred vision. For children, hypertension could cause fatigue, nosebleeds and facial paralysis in addition to headache and blurred vision.

As overweight children usually grow into overweight adults, the results of the study should reinforce the health professionals to maintain their focus on relevant campaigns to promote weight loss and control in all sections of society, particularly amongst the young.

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