[Clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in obese offspring of parents with essential hypertension].
BACKGROUND
The prevalence of obesity in industrialized countries is increasing and is closely related to essential hypertension (EHT) in adolescents.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the prevalence of obesity and its association with other known cardiovascular risk factors in a sample of children and young adults with at least one parent with EHT.


METHODS
The EHT group consisted 51 children and young adults (28 males [aged 5.4-25.6 years]) with at least one parent with EHT. The control group comprised 73 healthy normotensive children and young adults (43 males [aged 7.2-25.2 years]) who completed the follow-up visits of the RICARDIN study. Blood pressure (BP) was measured with a standardized technique using a mercury sphygmomanometer. A 12-hour fasting blood sample was taken for lipid profile and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) determinations. Financial support: FIS 03/0350, ESV Foundation Grant, 2003.


RESULTS
The prevalence of obesity was five times higher in the EHT group than in controls (19.6% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.007). In this group, obese subjects showed higher systolic BP (122.0 vs. 110.4 mmHg p = 0.004) and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (47.6 vs. 58.0 mg/dl, p < 0.05). After adjustment for age and systolic BP, obese subjects in the EHT group showed significantly higher CRP values than non-obese subjects in this group (p = 0.024).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of obesity is higher in the offspring of parents with EHT than in non HT-prone subjects. Clustering of other additional risk factors indicates the need for high-risk preventive interventions in this group of children and young adults.
Díaz Martín
J J
JJ
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital San Agustín, Avilés, Spain. jjdiaz@telecable.es
Málaga Diéguez
I
I
Argüelles Luis
J
J
Diéguez Junquera
M A
MA
Vijande Vázquez
M
M
Málaga Guerrero
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors