Blood pressure in children: Association with anthropometric indicators, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity

Abstract

Background: Evidence points to anthropometric and fitness variables as associated factors with children’s blood pressure. Analysing these factors in a single context is a relevant possibility of identifying the weight that each factor can present for the development of arterial hypertension. Objective: Identify the possible associations between anthropometric measurements, body composition, moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with blood pressure in children. Methods: Correlational study with a quantitative approach. Sample: 215 schoolchildren aged 6-12 years selected by convenience criteria of a public school in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Blood pressure was measured with a digital sphygmomanometer. For data treatment, the values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were standardized (Z score) and added. The variables tested as predictors were: MVPA; body fat percentage (BF%); Body Mass Index (BMI); waist-height ratio (WHTR); maturity-offset and CRF. After checking the normality parameters, the crude and adjusted associations (for sex, age and maturity-offset) were tested with linear regression equations. For the analyses, p <0.05 was considered. Results: Three different models indicated the best sets of factors associated with standardized blood pressure. Model 1 (R² = 0.21) consisted of the variables WHTR (β = 9.702) and MVPA (β =-0.021). Model 2 (R² = 0.19) was composed of the variables BMI (β = 0.156) and MVPA (β =-0.021). Model 3 (R² = 0.18) included the variables BF% (β = 0.063) and CRF (β =-0.004). Conclusion: Blood pressure in children is predicted by the body variables BF%, BMI and WHTR, in addition, it is negatively associated with MVPA and CRF. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2021; 116(5):950-956).