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Abstract

Essential hypertension was previously rare among adolescents who were considered the healthiest sector of the population. However the prevalence of this disease has risen dramatically in the last two decades mainly due to the associated increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Very few studies have reported on the relationship between risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and body size in African adolescents. The aim of the current study was to investigate the risk factors associated with hypertension in overweight/obese adolescents in a peri-urban setting. This was a cross sectional study. After parental and informed consent, four hundred and ten 13 - 17 year old male and female adolescent school learners were recruited into the study. Anthropometry, blood pressure, lipid profiles and serum hs-CRP, adiponectin and interleukin 1�² were measured. 41% of learners were either overweight or obese while 31.9% had either Hypertension (HT) (BP â�¥95th percentile for age and sex) or pre-HT (BPâ�¥90th<95th percentile for age and sex). The prevalence of HT/pre-HT was higher among overweight and obese learners compared to the lean (36.8% vs 25.6%). Waist Circumference (WC) (86.4�±5.3 vs70.5�±0.14), Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) (0.54�±0.6 vs 0.44�±0.01), total cholesterol (4.2�±0.03 vs 0.39�±0.4) and high sensitive CRP (2.4�± 0.03 vs 1.4�± 0.16) were significantly (p<0.01) higher in learners with HT/pre-HT. HT/pre-HT correlated significantly with WC, WHtR and CRP levels. Overweight and obesity were associated with increased markers of CVD risk and are therefore important public health concerns which need to be addressed urgently in adolescents.

Biography

Email: bnkehchungag@wsu.ac.za