Did you know: Your weight can put you at risk of hypertension

Washington: A new research has suggested that obese youngsters have a nearly six-fold risk of hypertension.

The study conducted from PEP (Prevention Education Program) Family Heart Study presented at ESC Congress showed that compared with normal weight children and adolescents, the risk of prehypertension was significantly higher in youths with an elevated body mass index (BMI). The risk was 1.6 fold higher in overweight and 2.4 fold higher in obese boys. 1.8 fold higher in overweight and 3.3 fold higher in obese girls.

Professor Peter Schwandt from Germany, said that the prevalence of hypertension and obesity in children and adolescents was continuing to rise in most high and middle-income countries because adiposity is considered a driving force for cardiovascular disease, they examined whether elevated blood pressure was associated with body fat distribution in young people.

Schwandt asserted that they found that obese boys had a nearly six fold increased risk of hypertension compared to normal weight boys and in obese girls the risk was more than four times greater than their normal weight counterparts.

Schwandt concluded that general and abdominal adiposity, estimated using simple and inexpensive methods, were already significantly associated with prehypertension and hypertension in children and adolescents and this was of great importance because of the ongoing rise in the prevalence of hypertension and overweight/obesity in young people and the tracking of childhood overweight into adulthood.