Healthcare

The parents and doctors should pay special attention to the children who considered overweight or obese category because the effects on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) was over four times compared to normal-weight children. Instead BP in prehypertensive or hypertensive range in young age post a risk of later diseases in adulthood.

Therefore, according to new report that presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research 2010 Scientific Sessions, small changes in body mass index (BMI) can make bigger differences in blood pressure among overweight and obese children.

The current study authors, Dr Wanzhu Tu from Indiana University, Indianapolis, and colleagues said that their findings also have implications for future research. As BMI and BP studies typically don’t separate overweight and normal-weight children, results will tend to overestimate the effects on BP in those of normal weight but underestimate the effects in heavier children.
Therefore according to the authors, “we have to somehow accommodate such differential effects going forward.”

The study tracked the blood pressure, height, and weight of just over 1000 children from local schools over time, with the mean age at enrollment being 10.2 years (range 4 to 17 years) and the longest follow-up exceeding 10 years.

According to the findings, children with BMIs in the 85th percentile or higher are considered overweight.
Tu said, “Bellow the 85th percentile, BMI effects on BP appear to be fairly linear”. But, after the 85th percentile, and particularly after the 90th percentile, “BMI effects are noticeably stronger”.

Tu suggest, “For family physicians, if you keep seeing this child who already has increased weight, that should set off an alarm, you should look after the child more closely and be mindful not just that the child is heavier but also that there is a dramatically increased risk of hypertension.”

Tu added, “And because the BMI effect is so much greater in overweight and obese children, for a small reduction in BMI you might actually have a lot of benefit in BP; on the other hand, for a small increase, you could dramatically increase the risk of prehypertension or hypertension in children.”