Prevalence of Obesity & Hypertension in Adolescent School Going Children of Berhampur, Odisha, India

Background: In the prevailing era of adult hypertension, limited data are available regarding the profile of childhood obesity & hypertension from India. We examined & studied the prevalence of childhood obesity & hypertension in a representative sample of school children from Berhampur, Odisha & tried to find out if any relationship is there or not between obesity & hypertension in those study population. Methods: In a cross sectional study we select the children from different schools of Berhampur, Odisha during 2009-11. In this, 5155 student of 10-16 Yrs. of age group were taken. Blood pressure & anthropometrics data were collected. Overweight & obesity were defined by body mass index for gender & age. Gender, age & height were considered for determining hypertension. The hypertensive children were followed up at 6 monthly intervals, 3 times, to look for persistent hypertension. Results: out of 5155 students, 10.4% students were over weight & 3.6% were obese (3.68%). 190(3.68%) students were found to have sustained hypertension. The number of girls students having hypertension (4.47%) was more then boys (3.2%). There was a significant association of hypertension in obese group in comparison to overweight & normal blood pressure group. Conclusion: Prevalence of sustained hypertension overweight & obesity is on rise in adolescent age groups in this part of world. Possible related factors for this current trend may be the increasing sedentary life style, altered eating habits, and increased fat content of diet. The result suggests the need for more public awareness & prevention programs for childhood obesity & hypertension.