Family History of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Prepubertal Children

BACKGROUND: To determine the relationship between family history of hypertension (FHH) and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in healthy prepubertal children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, population-based study. SETTING: Elementary schools from San Luis Potosi and Durango, cities in middle and northern Mexico. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 358 randomly enrolled, healthy boys and girls aged 6-10 years in Tanner stage 1, with and without FHH. OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds ratio (OR) that estimates the relationship between FHH and CVRF. RESULTS: FHH was identified in 72 (20.1%) children; 212 (59.2%) children had at least one CVRF, where low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (36.3%), elevated waist circumference (WC) (29.3%), and hypertriglyceridemia (28.8%) were the most frequent; high-blood pressure (HBP) and hyperglycemia were recognized in 10 (3.3%) and 1 (0.3%) children. Metabolic syndrome and hyperinsulinemia were identified in 36 (10.0%) and 48 (13.4%) children. In all subjects, hyperinsulinemia (OR 2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-8.4), but not other CVRF was significantly associated with FHH. Subsequent analysis stratified by WC showed that FHH was not associated with CVRF in children with elevated WC. Among children with nonelevated WC, FHH in the maternal branch, but not in the paternal branch, was associated with hyperinsulinemia (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.1-5.5), HBP (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.3-30.1), hypertriglyceridemia (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.1-7.2), and low HDL-cholesterol (OR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1-3.0). CONCLUSION: Results show that FHH in the maternal branch is associated with CVRF in children with nonelevated WC.