title: Is high waist circumference and body weight associated with high blood pressure in Iranian primary school children?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of overweight, abdominal obesity and hypertension among children has increased worldwide including Iran over several decades. We carried out a study to provide current estimates of the prevalence and trends of hypertension, overweight and obesity along with the relationship between weight status and hypertension in Iranian school-children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was carried out among 1184 fifth-grade students, whose ages ranged from 11 to 14 years. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), height and waist circumference (WC), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  22.04 and 5.32 % of students were overweight and obese, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly higher among girls than boys (all p = 0.02), whereas the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in boys than girls (p = 0.001). Although 27 % of boys and 24.32 % of girls had abdominal obesity, no significant associations were reported between abdominal obesity and sex (p = 0.12). The prevalence of hypertension in children with normal weight, overweight and obesity, was 3, 9.7 and 17.8 %, respectively (p < 0.01). We have obtained that the mean values of weight and WC were significantly higher in boys than girls. Based on linear regression, every 1 cm increase in abdominal circumference leads to an estimated DBP and SBP increase of 0.173 and 0.164 mmHg, respectively (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed a high prevalence of hypertension and obesity in a school-based population in Tehran, Iran, in which the prevalence of hypertension was significantly and positively correlated with weight and WC.
authors: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Mitra
authors: M
authors: Zarrati
authors: Department of Nutrition, School of Health, Qazvin University of Medical Science, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Elham
authors: E
authors: Hojaji
authors: Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.|Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
authors: Elham
authors: E
authors: Razmpoosh
authors: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Farinaz Nasiri
authors: FN
authors: Nezhad
authors: Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Hossein
authors: H
authors: Keyvani
authors: Immunology, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Raheleh Shokouhi
authors: RS
authors: Shoormasti
authors: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. farzadshidfar@yahoo.com.|Colorectal Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. farzadshidfar@yahoo.com.
authors: Farzad
authors: F
authors: Shidfar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Abdominal obesity; Children; Hypertension; Iran