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Association between waist circumference and childhood‐masked hypertension: A community‐based study
Author(s) -
So HungKwan,
Yip Gabriel WaiKwok,
Choi KaiChow,
Li Albert M,
Leung Lettie ChukKwan,
Wong SikNin,
Sung Rita YnTz
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.13121
Subject(s) - medicine , waist , percentile , blood pressure , body mass index , ambulatory blood pressure , overweight , prehypertension , odds ratio , circumference , cohort , obesity , cardiology , pediatrics , statistics , geometry , mathematics
Aim The aim of this study is to determine the association between waist circumference (WC) and childhood‐masked hypertension. Methods A territory‐wide, school‐based cohort of 1385 Hong Kong students (672 boys and 713 girls) aged 8–17 years was analysed. The ambulatory blood pressure‐monitoring assessment was performed using validated oscillometric recorders (A&D TM‐2430 (A&D Inc., Tokyo, Japan)) following American Heart Association's recommendations. Subjects were considered normotensive if their casual blood pressure, 24‐h daytime and night‐time average systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were <95th percentile. If one or more of the ambulatory blood pressure parameters was ≥95th percentile, subjects would be considered suffering from masked hypertension (MH). Subjects who had three successive casual blood pressure measurements above the 95th percentile were excluded. Results By body mass index, 148 (10.7%) subjects were obese, 182 (13.1%) overweight and 359 (25.9%) having larger WC (≥85th percentiles). MH was diagnosed in 217 subjects (15.7%). Subjects with larger WC or obesity were significantly associated with higher 24‐h daytime and night‐time systolic blood pressure (≥95th percentile) (odds ratios from 1.84 to 2.09 and from 2.07 to 3.54 for larger WC and obese respectively, all P < 0.05) as well as 24‐h DBP for larger WC (odds ratio = 2, P = 0.015) than normal subjects adjusted by sex, age and height. Conclusion Waist circumference and body mass index are independent risk factors of childhood and adolescent MH. WC appears a significant associated factor of elevated 24‐h DBP in children aged 8–17 years.