Objective To estimate the level of blood pressure and to identify related factors in school-age children in Shanghai.
Methods Using stratified cluster sampling,779 Grade 2 children were selected from seven elementary schools in Zhabei District of Shanghai in 2010 and had measurements on height,weight,waist circumference,and blood pressure by trained personnel.Their parents completed a self-administered questionnaire designed by the research team on child's diet and physical activity.
Results The prevalence of high blood pressure in the selected children was 9.4% and did not differ significantly between boys and girls (10.0% in boys and 8.7% in girls,P > 0.05).The prevalence of obesity was 20.9%,and 16.3% had high waist circumference.Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) increased with obesity,with P-trend < 0.000 1 in boys and P-trend < 0.05 in girls.Both SBP and DBP were significant higher in the high waist circumference group than in those in the normal waist circumference group (P < 0.001).After multivariate adjustment of age,gender,parental education,and parental occupation,high waist circumference (OR=1.14,95% CI:1.07-1.21) and high consumption of sweet desserts (OR=1.08,95%CI:1.02-1.16) were associated with high blood pressure.
Conclusion The prevalence of high blood pressure in the Grade 2 children in Zhabei District of Shanghai is at a high level and requires enhancing surveillance and earlier intervention.Targeted interventions against obesity,especially abdominal obesity,and less intake of sweet food are effective measures to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
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