Correlation between antrhopometric indicators and blood pressure in adolescents

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to analyze the correlation between anthropometric indicators and blood pressure of adolescents from Imperatriz, state of Maranhão, Brazil. It is a quantitative cross-sectional study, developed between September and November of 2012 with 218 students. We used a questionnaire to collect data regarding identification, anthropometrics, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Considering blood pressure, we found that 4.6%, 2.4% and 1.3% of the sample were included in the borderline, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension categories, respectively. Among female participants, body adiposity index and skinfold presented higher mean values than those of their male counterparts. Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation between systolic blood pressure and height (r=0.18), weight (r=0.20) and waist circumference (r=0.17), and a negative correlation between diastolic blood pressure and body adiposity index (r=-0.18). The measures of neck and waist circumference were the only anthropometric measures with positive and simultaneous correlations with systolic blood pressure for both genders.