title: Physical Activity, Obesity Status, and Blood Pressure in Preschool Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the combined effects of physical activity and weight status on blood pressure (BP) in preschool-aged children.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 733 preschool-aged children (49% female). Physical activity was objectively assessed on 7 consecutive days by accelerometry. Children were categorized as sufficiently active if they met the recommendation of at least 60 minutes daily of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Body mass index was used to categorize children as nonoverweight or overweight/obese, according to the International Obesity Task Force benchmarks. BP was measured using an automated BP monitor and categorized as elevated or normal using BP percentile-based cut-points for age, sex, and height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of elevated systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP was 7.7% and 3.0%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight/obese was 32%, and about 15% of children did not accomplish the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA. After controlling for age and sex, overweight/obese children who did not meet the daily MVPA recommendation were 3 times more likely (OR 3.8; CI 1.6-8.6) to have elevated SBP than nonoverweight children who met the daily MVPA recommendation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight or obese preschool-aged children with insufficient levels of MVPA are at significantly greater risk for elevated SBP than their nonoverweight and sufficiently active counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Research Center in Physical Activity, Health, and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Sport Science, High School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: susanavale@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vale
authors.affiliation: School of Human Movement Studies, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Stewart G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Trost
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Children and Adolescent Center, CUF Hospital, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rêgo
authors.affiliation: Research Center in Physical Activity, Health, and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.affiliation: Research Center in Physical Activity, Health, and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mota
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology