M. Bhuvaneswari, G. S. Ramaprasad
BACKGROUND Hypertension is a chronic non-communicable disease with high morbidity and mortality. Prevailing number of hypertensives diagnosed in society indicate just the tip of iceberg as it was documented that almost 75% hypertension cases and 90% of prehypertension cases are undiagnosed. Evidence suggests that pre-hypertension in childhood is precursor of hypertension in adulthood and children maintain their position in the blood pressure distribution over time.1 Evidence suggests that anthropometric measurements such as weight, height and BMI can be taken as surrogate marker of prevalence hypertension. Hence, measurement of these parameters can help in early detection children at risk of hypertension. Primary hypertension, once considered a rare occurrence in pediatric patients, is seen more often particularly in obese patients. Other factors responsible for increased prevalence of hypertension in children include lifestyle changes such as decreased physical activity, increased intake of high calories, high sodium and low potassium foods, use of caffeinated and alcohol beverages, smoking, mental stress and sleep deprivation.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS It is a cross sectional study. A total of 980 children were taken as sample from various urban schools of Kurnool city. Study was conducted during period of October 2016 to December 2017. The study was conducted after taking consent from the school authorities and parents of the concerned school children. The objectives and importance of the study were explained to the school staff a day prior to the commencement of the study to get their cooperation. The questionnaire comprised of information regarding the history of child, history of any past illness, family history of hypertension, dietary factors, socioeconomic status which may be potentially related to the development of hypertension. Following are the measurements made on the children: 1) Weight: Taken in kilograms using a pre-calibrated portable weighing scale. 2) Height: With the help of wooden scale the top most point of the vertex is identified, and reading was recorded on the height chart pasted on the wall. 3) Body mass index: Quetelets index was calculated for all children. 4) Socioeconomic status: Assessed by using Modified Kuppuswamy’s socio economic scale (2009). 5) Blood pressure: Blood pressures were made in the right arm in sitting position by using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer with different sized cuff as per recommendations of the American Heart Association. RESULTS There is linear increase in SBP and DBP in both boys and girls with height and this increase was found to be statistically significant with p<0. 001. There is no much differences between systolic and diastolic blood pressures between sexes in most os the age groups except for difference between the SBP and DBP of boy vs girls of 9 years of age group. There is linear increase in both mean SBP and DBP in both boys and girls with weight and this difference is statistically significant with p<0.001. CONCLUSION According to the study the means of SBP and DBP in overweight and obese group is significantly higher than the normal weight group. And is statistically significant p<0. 01. Therefore, it may be used as a predictor of high blood pressure. There is a high mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the children with high socioeconomic status as compared to that of low socioeconomic status. Our study shows children with family history of hypertension has higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure as compared to those without family history of blood pressure.
