Hypertensive Measures In Schoolchildren: Risk Of Central Obesity And Protective Effect Of Moderate-To-Vigorous Physical Activity

Abstract Background The proportion of arterial hypertension (AH) has increased in children and adolescents and is associated with several comorbidities. Objective To verify the association of arterial hypertension with central and general obesity as well as according to the level of physical activity in schoolchildren. Methods 336 children and adolescents aged 11 to 17 participated in the study. Height, body weight, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure (BP) were measured. The body mass index z-score (BMI-z) was calculated. The level of physical activity was assessed by the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) according to the practice of moderate-to-vigorous physical activities (AF-mv). Students with systolic (SBP) and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) higher than the 95thpercentile according to sex, age and height or ≥120/80 were considered hypertensive. Statistical tests of t-Student, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and binary logistic regression model were used, considering the significance level of p