Childhood Hypertension And Obesity In a Developing Country Setting: A Survey Among School Age Children In Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Background

Childhood hypertension is silently rising and gradually becoming a serious public health burden and concern due to its attendant significant morbidity and mortality. It is oftenneglected and rarely reported.Also, childhood obesity is increasingly assuming epidemic proportion with a consequent predisposition to cardio-metabolic diseases.

Aim

To determine the prevalence of childhood hypertension in association with obesity among apparently healthy school age children in Calabar

Study Design/Setting

A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among randomly selected school-age children, in Calabar, Nigeria.

Methods/Subjects

This cross-sectional study was conducted among children, aged 6 – 12 years old who were selected from public and private primary schools through multi-stage sampling. Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were categorized based on the updated 2004 fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents and International Obesity Trust Fund (IOTF) respectively.

Results

A total of 374 children were enrolledwith a male to female ratio of 1.0: 1.3 and mean (SD) age of 9.48 (1.42) years. Mean (SD) systolic blood pressure was 95.9 ±8.8mmHg and the mean (SD) BMI was 16.6 ± (2.6) kg /m2. Hypertension was observed in 9 (2.4%) out of 374 children. Hypertension occurred more in the adolescents 6(3.2%) than in the preadolescents 3(1.6%). Similarly, hypertension was higher in females 8(3.7%) than in males 1(0.6%) With regards to obesity,15 (4%) were obese with a female: male ratio of 1.5: 1. Obesity was higher in adolescents [11 (5.8%)] than in pre-adolescents [4(4%)]

Conclusion

The prevalence of hypertension was 2.4% and it was commoner in females than in males who were more obese. Obesity was strongly associated with increasing BP. Awareness should be created among health care professionals to regularly check for hypertension and overweight among school children for early diagnosis and treatment.