Association of body fat distribution with high blood pressure among Chinese children and adolescents with various nutritional status: a population-based study

Background To investigate the associations between body fat distribution and high blood pressure (HBP) in children and adolescents with different nutritional status. Methods Data of the present analysis came from a cross-sectional survey of 1423 children and adolescents (50.2% boys) aged 7–17 years conducted in Beijing, China. Pearson partial correlation coefficients between DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry)-derived fat indicators and anthropometric measures. Logistic regression was conducted to relate the risk of HBP and quartiles of fat indicators of various body fat distributions. Trend analysis was performed to explore the dose-response relationship between HBP risk and regional fat distribution. Results Among all participants, boys generally have a higher prevalence of HBP (18.0% to 46.9%) than girls (17.3% to 35.1%) do in both non-overweight and overweight groups. In non-overweight, HBP was significantly associated with body fat distribution for every interquartile increase in girls. Specifically, we found that the ratio of T/L (trunk fat mass/leg fat mass) and A/G (android fat mass/gynoid fat mass) were significant predictors of HBP in overweight boys, with ORs of 8.24 (95%CI 3.00, 22.61) and 2.78 (95%CI 1.27, 6.09), respectively. Conclusions Higher quartiles of body fat distribution were positively associated with HBP risk in non-overweight girls, whereas for boys, T/L and A/G fat mass could be more associated with HBP risk.