Prevalence of hypertension and associated risk factors among adolescents in secondary schools: a case study of urban Ondo Town

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is the commonest noncommunicable disease affecting both children and adults. Its origin is in childhood, but information on its prevalence and associated risk factors in children are scarce.

Objective: This study assessed the prevalence of hypertension and associated risk factors among adolescents in Ondo town.

Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 965 respondents selected using a multistage sampling technique from secondary schools urban Ondo town. Height, weight and blood pressure (BP) of the respondents were measured, while body mass index (BF) and body fat were calculated using standard methods.

Results: The proportion of female and male respondents who were underweight were 19.6% and 21.7%, normal 68% and 67.1% and overweight/obese 12.4% and 11.2%, respectively, 29.6% of female and 6.9% male respondents had BF above normal. The elevated systolic BP (SBP) among adolescents showed that 8.5% females and 13.2% males were pre-hypertensive, and 3.5% females and 5.1% males were hypertensive. The elevated diastolic BP (DBP) showed that 3.8% females and 2.8% males were prehypertensive, and 1.5% females and 0.2% males were hypertensive. The SBP and DBP of participants were not significantly (p<0.05) correlated with weight (SBP, r = 0.179; DBP, r = 0.221); height (SBP, r = 0.110; DBP, r = 0.215), BMI (SBP, r = 0.130; DBP, r = 0.094) and BF (SBP, r = -0.008; DBP, r = 0.152).

Conclusion: The study established cases of overweight/obese and hypertension with prevalence of 3.5% and 5.1% for female and male adolescents respectively in Ondo State, hence, there is a need for early health and nutrition intervention programmes.

Keywords: Body fat, body mass index, blood pressure, adolescents