Authors : Mishra PE, Shastri L, Thomas T, Duggan C, Bosch R, McDonald CM, Kurpad AV, Kuriyan R
Publication Year : 2015
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the utility of waist-to-height ratio to identify risk of high blood pressure when compared to body mass index and waist circumference in South Indian urban school children.
DESIGN:
Secondary data analysis from a cross-sectional study.
SETTING:
Urban schools around Bangalore, India.
PARTICIPANTS:
1913 children (58.1% males) aged 6-16 years with no prior history of chronic illness (PEACH study).
METHODS:
Height, weight, waist circumference and of blood pressure were measured. Children with blood pressure ?90th percentile of age-, sex-, and height-adjusted standards were labelled as having high blood pressure.
RESULTS:
13.9% had a high waist-to-height ratio, 15.1% were overweight /obese and 21.7% had high waist circumference. High obesity indicators were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure. The adjusted risk ratios (95% CI) of high systolic blood pressure with waist-to-height ratio, body mass index and waist circumference were 2.48 (1.76, 3.47), 2.59 (1.66, 4.04) and 2.38 (1.74, 3.26), respectively. Similar results were seen with high diastolic blood pressure.
CONCLUSION:
Obesity indicators, especially waist-to-height ratio due to its ease of measurement, can be useful initial screening tools for risk of high blood pressure in urban Indian school children.