title: Body composition, leg length and blood pressure in a rural Italian population: a test of the capacity-load model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Whereas adult weight or body mass index (BMI) are directly associated with blood pressure (BP), birth weight is inversely associated with BP. The scenario for height is more complex, as both tall and short stature have been associated with higher BP. We used a theoretical model treating sitting height (SH) and tissue masses (fat mass, lean mass) as components of metabolic load, and leg length (LL) as a marker of homeostatic metabolic capacity. We predicted that decreased capacity and increased load would be independently associated with increased BP..
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anthropometry, body composition (bio-electrical impedance analysis) and BP were measured in 601 adults (228 male) aged 20-91 years from three hill villages in southern Italy. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate associations of body composition and anthropometry with BP. Adjusting for age, systolic BP (SBP) was associated with lean mass in males, and with adiposity in females, whereas diastolic BP (DBP) was associated with fat mass in both sexes. Associations of LL and SH with BP were in opposite directions. LL was inversely associated with SBP and DBP in males, with a similar trend evident in females. SH was directly associated with SBP and DBP in females, and with DBP in males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with our theoretical model, metabolic load is associated with increased BP, though differently between the sexes, whereas metabolic capacity is independently associated with lower BP. Our findings suggest that early growth improves hemodynamic tolerance of high metabolic load in adulthood..
authors.affiliation: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK; Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, "A. Buzzati-Traverso" CNR, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montagnese
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, "A. Buzzati-Traverso" CNR, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nutile
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Marphatia
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute for Global Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Grijalva-Eternod
authors.affiliation: Human Nutrition Research Centre, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siervo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, "A. Buzzati-Traverso" CNR, Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: ciullo@igb.cnr.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciullo
authors.affiliation: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001724:Birth Weight; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D007558:Italy; D007866:Leg / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012424:Rural Population; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blood pressure; Body composition; Growth; Leg length; Metabolic capacity