Associations of Blood Pressure with Body Composition among Afro-Caribbean Children in Barbados

Despite complex presentation of adult hypertension and a concomitant obesity epidemic, little is known about overweight in relation to blood pressure among Caribbean children. We examined blood pressure in relation to body size in a cross-sectional study of 573 Barbadian children aged 9-10 years (20...

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Published in:PloS one Vol. 10; no. 3; p. e0121107
Main Authors: Gaskin, Pamela S., Hall, Ryan V., Chami, Peter, St. John, Margaret A., Gaskin, David A., Molaodi, Oarabile R., Harding, Seeromanie
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 27.03.2015
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Barbados
Blood
Blood pressure
Blood Pressure - physiology
Body composition
Body Composition - physiology
Body fat
Body mass
Body Mass Index
Body size
Body weight
Body weight gain
Cardiovascular disease
Caribbean Region
Child
Children
Developing countries
Entrance examinations
Epidemics
Female
Girls
Health sciences
Heart
Households
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertension - epidemiology
Hypertension - physiopathology
LDCs
Male
Obesity
Overweight
Overweight - epidemiology
Overweight - physiopathology
Physiological aspects
Public health
Schools
Single parents
Teenagers
Trends
Barbados
Caribbean Region
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Despite complex presentation of adult hypertension and a concomitant obesity epidemic, little is known about overweight in relation to blood pressure among Caribbean children. We examined blood pressure in relation to body size in a cross-sectional study of 573 Barbadian children aged 9-10 years (2010-2011). The United States normative blood pressure percentiles were used to identify children with high (≥95th percentile) or high normal blood pressure (90th-95th percentile). The World Health Organization body mass index cut-off points were used to assess weight status. Thirty percent of children were overweight/obese. Percentage fat mass differed between girls (20.4%) and boys (17.72%) (p<0.05). Mean systolic blood pressure among girls was 106.11 (95% CI 105.05, 107.17) mmHg and 105.23 (104.09, 106.38) for boys. The percentages with high or high-normal mean systolic blood pressure were 14.38% (10.47, 18.29) for girls and 8.08% (4.74, 11.41) for boys. Height and body mass index were independent correlates of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Mean systolic blood pressure was related to lean mass but not fat mass, while diastolic blood pressure was associated with fat mass index and overweight. One third of 9-10 year old children in Barbados were overweight/obese and 12% had elevated mean systolic blood pressure. BP was related to body size. These findings signal potential adverse trends in weight gain and BP trends for children growing up in the context of a country that has recently undergone rapid economic transition.
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Conceived and designed the experiments: PSG. Performed the experiments: PSG RVH. Analyzed the data: ORM PC PSG. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PSG MAS. Wrote the paper: PSG SH. Contributed critical comments on the final draft of the manuscript: DAG SH.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0121107