Incidence of Hypertension in Schoolchildren and Adolescents: Relationship With Physical Activity, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Obesity

The present study examined the associations between changes over time in blood pressure (BP) with baseline and with varying levels of physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (AFT) and body mass index (BMI). Longitudinal study, consisting of 221 young people aged between 8-17 years. BP, BMI, sexual maturation and the AFT test were conducted at the school. The AF was assessed by a validated questionnaire. Subjects were classified into high levels of PA considering international guidelines. The risk of elevated BP levels during one year was associated with male gender and overweight/obese at baseline. High AFT values at baseline were inversely associated with the risk of high blood pressure. The results suggest that overweight / obesity, male gender and the AFT dependent BMI are risk factors for high blood pressure in school factors.