Ethnic and gender disparities in adolescent obesity and elevated systolic blood pressure in a rural US population.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) in ethnically diverse adolescents (1064 males; 974 females; 13-17 years) in a rural community. Prevalence of overweight was 20.4% in females and 17.5% in males. In contrast, the prevalence of obesity was 29.4% in males and 14.5% in females. African American males had the highest prevalence of obesity (33.3%) compared with non-Hispanic whites (26.3%). Prevalence of elevated SBP was higher than pre-elevated SBP in males regardless of race/ethnicity, but not in females. Obese females had 4-fold and 9-fold greater odds of developing pre-elevated SBP and elevated SBP, respectively, than their normal weight cohorts. Prevalence of obesity is almost twice that of overweight in males in our rural population suggesting that adolescent males from disadvantaged, rural populations are potentially at a greater risk for metabolic disorders than those in major metropolitan areas.
School of Natural Sciences, University of California-Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USA. rortiz@ucmerced.edu
Ruben
R
Rodriguez
Jana
J
Mowrer
Jessica
J
Romo
April
A
Aleman
Simón E
SE
Weffer
Rudy M
RM
Ortiz
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D054525:Minority Health; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000208:ethnology*; D044465:White People