title: Anthropometric measures can better predict high blood pressure in adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Among children, obesity and overweight may be predictors of cardiovascular (CV) risk. The purpose of this study was to examine whether body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were related to blood pressure (BP) among healthy southern Italian students enrolled in 3 different secondary schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weight, height, BP and WC were measured; BMI and WHtR were calculated for 872 Italian students. Based on percentiles of BMI, the subjects were classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. Systolic BP or diastolic BP >95th percentile were considered as high BP values (according to the 2004 guidelines of the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Central obesity was defined as WC >75th percentile or WHtR =0.5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the students, 8.7% were obese, 29% with WC >75th percentile and 29.5% with WHtR >0.5, while 4.6% showed high BP. Logistic regression showed a strong correlation between BMI and high BP (odds ratio [OR] = 1.030, p<0.0001), between WC and high BP (OR = 1.029, p<0.0001). Also WHtR (OR = 3.403, p<0.0001) was shown to be a predictor of high BP. In the male group, all of the variables considered showed a good capability to predict high BP, while in the females, only BMI (OR = 1.019, p<0.05) and WHtR (OR = 2.685, p<0.05) were associated with high BP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, we found a different correlation between BMI, WC and BP in the 2 subgroups: males and females. Only WHtR showed a significant ability to predict high BP in both groups. WHtR might represent an easily measurable anthropometric index and a better predictor of CV risk in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, Annunziata Hospital, Cosenza - Italy.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papalia
authors.forename: Rosita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lofaro
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mollica
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roberti
authors.forename: Renzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonofiglio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007558:Italy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012737:Sex Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000175:diagnosis; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio