Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

Nutrition transition of India in last few decades has increased the problem of overweight and obesity in its population. This has created double burden of malnutrition and also increased the risk of NCDs not only in adults but children as well. One of them is hypertension, a silent killer associated with high morbidity and mortality. Present study was aimed to study the association between childhood obesity and hypertension among children. Sixty obese (exposed group) and sixty non-obese children (control group) of 6-15 year were selected through purposive and random selection, respectively from school setting. Overall, prevalence of hypertension among children (n=120) was 26.7% (12.5% girls and 14.2% boys). Obese children (43.3%) were more likely to be hypertensive than non-obese children (10%) [X2 (2, N=120) =24.1, p= < .01]. Compared to diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure was affected more by various anthropometric measures with significant positive correlation (with body weight, height, BMI, WC, %BF and Σ SF4 (p<0.01) in both boys and girls of 6-15yrs. High BMI and waist circumference increases the risk of elevated BP in children. Childhood obesity and hypertension among children had a significant positive relationship, indicating the necessity for screening obese children for hypertension to avoid future risk of NCDs.