Key result
Waist circumference adjusted for BMI had nonlinear associations with systolic blood pressure that varied by race and gender, with black women having higher SBP at >90 cm than white women.
Why the study?
How does the association between body fat distribution and systolic blood pressure vary by race and gender in young adults?
Observational (n=15,000)
Yes
How does the association between body fat distribution and systolic blood pressure vary by race and gender in young adults?
The relationship between adiposity and systolic blood pressure is nonlinear and differs significantly by race and gender, highlighting the need for tailored cardiovascular risk assessment.
Supports race- and gender-specific waist thresholds for SBP assessment in young adults; leaves open causal effects and outcome impact.
BACKGROUND: Adiposity, or more specifically, underlying body fat distribution, has been associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), and it has been suggested that these associations vary between whites and blacks, as well as by gender. METHODS: Here, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a US study of over 15,000 participants (median age 29.0 years), to characterize the associations between measures of body fat distribution-waist circumference (WC) and WC adjusted for body mass index (BMI) (WC(-bmi))-with SBP within white and black race and gender subgroups. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that, at lower levels of WC(-bmi), white women have significantly higher SBP as compared to black women, whereas black men have higher SBP than white men. Black women with WC(-bmi) >90 cm have higher SBP compared to white women with similar WC(-bmi), whereas among black and white men the associations are essentially similar across the full range of WC(-bmi). CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that associations among anthropometric measures of adiposity and blood pressure are nonlinear, and importantly, vary for whites and blacks by gender. In black women, SBP increased more as WC increased from low- to mid-range levels, whereas it was only at higher WC levels that black men exhibited higher SBP than white men.
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Brummett et al. (2011) conducted an observational in Adiposity and elevated systolic blood pressure (n=15,000). Body fat distribution (waist circumference and WC adjusted for BMI) vs. Different levels of adiposity across race and gender subgroups was evaluated on Systolic blood pressure (SBP). Waist circumference adjusted for BMI had nonlinear associations with systolic blood pressure that varied by race and gender, with black women having higher SBP at >90 cm than white women.
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