title: Severe obesity and high blood pressure among children, Philadelphia health centers, 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Child obesity is a major health problem particularly affecting disadvantaged population groups. Severe obesity carries additional health risks for children. In the context of the childhood obesity epidemic, high blood pressure among children is of increasing concern.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chart reviews were carried out to examine the prevalence of severe obesity and its association with high blood pressure measurements among randomly selected patients aged 3 to 17 years who had well-child care visits at 8 public community health centers during 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of the 691 patients reviewed were African American (58%); an additional 16% were Hispanic. The prevalence of severe obesity was 7.7% (95% confidence interval = 5.8% to 9.9%) and the prevalence of high blood pressure measurements was 17.5% (95% confidence interval = 14.8% to 20.6%). Patients who were severely obese were more than twice as likely as other children to have high blood pressure values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Severe obesity is associated with substantially increased frequency of high blood pressure measurements in children, and should be investigated further as a potential marker for hypertension in children. Primary care providers should be prepared to diagnose and treat hypertension in severely obese children.
authors: Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors: John V
authors: JV
authors: Nguyen
authors: Jessica M
authors: JM
authors: Robbins
authors: Kevin L
authors: KL
authors: Houck
authors: Elizabeth A
authors: EA
authors: Nobis
authors: Katelyn A
authors: KA
authors: Inman
authors: Khudsiya S
authors: KS
authors: Khan
authors: Susan W
authors: SW
authors: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: child; community health centers; high blood pressure; severe obesity