Study of Blood Pressure in Overweight and Obese School Children Between 5-15 Years of Age

Hypertension is one of the most common diseases worldwide and the prevalence in school children appears to be increasing perhaps as a result of increased prevalence of obesity. Thus the present study was planned to establish an association between BMI with hypertension amongst school children in the age group of 5-15 years. A total of 100 children, who were overweight and obese were included in the study. Anthropometric measurements of weight, height and blood pressure measurements were taken by the standard methodology. The statistical significant correlation observed between BMI and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.473, p<0.001); (r=0.411, p<0.001). It can be inferred that the children with high BMI are more likely to have hypertension.