Cabal GMÁ, Herrera GV, Diaz RN, González GJ, Arias W

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 95-106
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ABSTRACT

Rationale: Atherosclerosis represents one of the leading causes of disease and illness in Cuba. Atherosclerosis claims the life of younger persons every day. Obesity is associated with non-communicable chronic diseases, high blood pressure (HBP) among them. Objective: To identify the dependences between HBP and excessive body weight in obese adolescents. Study design: Retrospective, analytical. Study serie: Three hundred and two students from “Josué País” Junior High School, included within the health care área of the “Puentes Grandes” Teaching Community Policlinic (Playa, Havana City, Cuba), with ages between 12–14 years. Material and method: Schooler´s nutritional status was established independently from Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and Waist-to-Height ratio (WHR). HBP frequency was estimated. Associations between HBP and excessive body weight were assessed. Results: Excessive body weight affected 20.5% of the examined schoolers: Overweight: 15.5% vs. Obesity: 5.0%. Frequency of ICT > 0.50 was 4.6%. Average behavior of blood pressure (BP) was as follows: Systolic: 96.7± 12.7 mm Hg vs. Diastolic: 57.5 ± 9.4 mm Hg. Eight-point.three percent of the schoolers presented with BP ≥ 90 percentile of the reference values. Higher blood pressure were observed as BMI, CC and WHR increased. Conclusions: Increased total and visceral body fat associated with elevated BP values. Recommendations: To continue searching for early atherosclerotic signals in youngsters at risk in order to prevent atherosclerotic-originated diseases in adulthood.