CONTRIBUTION OF BODY-FAT AND FAT PATTERN TO BLOOD-PRESSURE LEVEL IN SCHOOL-CHILDREN

Objective: The study aims are investigating the effect of body fat and fat localization on blood pressure. Design: Case-control study. Setti ng: The study was carried out in the school health primary care. Subje cts: The case-control study included 220 obese and 220 non-obese child ren aged 7-18 years from Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates between Sep tember 1992 to May 1993 inclusive. Each group consisted of 120 males a nd 100 females. Two schools were randomly selected from each of the th ree educational stages: primary, junior and secondary. The inclusion c riterion for cases comprised children with body mass index (BMI; Quete let index), > 90th percentile of age and sex-specific reference data o f the French population. Non-obese healthy controls were randomly sele cted from the same classes from where obese children were identified i n order to ascertain that cases and controls were matched by age and s ex. Measurements: Anthropometric measures (weight, height, waist and h ip circumferences), systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measure d. To minimize interobserver error, blood pressure was measured by one physician. We also collected information about other confounding soci al variables (family history of obesity and mother's education) and be havioural variables (preferred diet and physical activity). Results: T here was significant difference of systolic and diastolic blood pressu re means between obese and non-obese children (P < 0.001) in both male s and females. Applying the multiple linear regression analysis to fix the confounding effect of age, sex, social and behavioural factors, t he fatness index, BMI, was significantly related to' systolic (P < 0.0 004) and diastolic (P < 0.0001); while waist-to-hip circumference rati o (WHR) was not significant (P = 0.803 in systolic and P = 0.648 in di astolic blood pressure respectively). Conclusions: Systolic and diasto lic blood pressure showed a positive relationship with the fatness ind ex BMI, but not with WHR, in both boys and girls. This is an evidence that WHR may not be a reliable indicator of body fat distribution in c hildren. Sponsorship: Ministry of Health, United Arab Emirates.