ADIPOSITY, FAT PATTERNING, AND BLOOD-PRESSURE AMONG CHILDREN FROM 2 ETHNIC-GROUPS

Results from studies of whether blood pressure (BP) is more closely re lated to percent body fat or to fat patterning [e.g., waist/hip ratio (WHR)] among children have been inconsistent, Some of these tests have controlled for possible confounding variables, whereas others have no t. To test this relationship, age, gender, ethnicity, blood pressures, percent fat from skinfolds, WHR, and height were obtained from 1,392 8-12-year-old African- and Euro-American children, Using statistical m odels that control for correlations within schools, percent fat from s kinfolds was related to BP for all analyses in all groups, whereas WHR was weakly related in only one model, A significant age-by-height int eraction term for systolic blood pressure (SEP) among boys suggested t hat height predicts SEP only up to 10 years of age, The models account ed for only a small percentage of the variance, suggesting that other factors are more important in determining BP levels among children.