title: Associations among obesity, blood pressure, and left ventricular mass.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure resting and ambulatory systemic blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular mass (LVM) in prepubertal obese and lean children and to determine their relationships.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study including 44 obese and 22 lean prepubertal children (mean age 8.8 +/- 1.5 years). We measured casual and 24-hour ambulatory BP, LVM and LVM index (LVMI) by echocardiography, and whole body lean tissue and fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean 24-hour systolic BP (124.8 +/- 14.2 vs 105.5 +/- 8.8 mm Hg), diastolic BP (72.8 +/- 7.3 vs 62.7 +/- 3.8 mm Hg), and LVMI (36.1 +/- 5.8 vs 30.9 +/- 5.7, g x m(-2.7)) were significantly higher in obese than in lean subjects. Systolic ambulatory hypertension was present in 47.6% of obese children, and casual BP was normal in 55% of those cases. Body fatness, lean tissue mass, and 24-hour BP correlated positively with LVMI. When adjusted for body fatness, LVMI was only associated with 24-hour systolic BP (adjusted R(2) = 15.9%; P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ambulatory systemic hypertension and increased LVM are found in obese children. Left ventricular mass is partially determined by systemic BP. We conclude that prevention and treatment of childhood obesity should be initiated as early as possible to prevent the premature development of hypertension and end-stage organ damage.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Cardiology Unit, Department of Child and Adolescent, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Albane B R
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Maggio
authors.forename: Yacine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aggoun
authors.forename: Laetitia M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Marchand
authors.forename: Xavier E
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beghetti
authors.forename: Nathalie J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Farpour-Lambert
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D001824:Body Constitution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis