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Waist-to-height ratio as an indicator of high blood pressure in urban Indian school children

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Abstract

Objective

To examine the utility of waist-to-height ratio to identify risk of high blood pressure when compared to body mass index and waist circumference in South Indian urban school children.

Design

Secondary data analysis from a cross-sectional study.

Setting

Urban schools around Bangalore, India.

Participants

1913 children (58.1% males) aged 6-16 years with no prior history of chronic illness (PEACH study).

Methods

Height, weight, waist circumference and of blood pressure were measured. Children with blood pressure ≥90th percentile of age-, sex-, and height-adjusted standards were labelled as having high blood pressure.

Results

13.9% had a high waist-to-height ratio, 15.1% were overweight/obese and 21.7% had high waist circumference. High obesity indicators were associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure. The adjusted risk ratios (95% CI) of high systolic blood pressure with waist-to-height ratio, body mass index and waist circumference were 2.48 (1.76, 3.47), 2.59 (1.66, 4.04) and 2.38 (1.74, 3.26), respectively. Similar results were seen with high diastolic blood pressure.

Conclusion

Obesity indicators, especially waist-to-height ratio due to its ease of measurement, can be useful initial screening tools for risk of high blood pressure in urban Indian school children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India

    P. E. Mishra, L. Shastri, A. V. Kurpad & R. Kuriyan

  2. Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Nutrition, St. John’s Research Institute, Bangalore, India

    T. Thomas

  3. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    C. Duggan & C. M. McDonald

  4. Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    R. Bosch

  5. Division of Nutrition, St. John’s Research Institute, Bangalore, 560 034, India

    R. Kuriyan

Authors
  1. P. E. Mishra
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  2. L. Shastri
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  3. T. Thomas
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  4. C. Duggan
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  5. R. Bosch
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  6. C. M. McDonald
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  7. A. V. Kurpad
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  8. R. Kuriyan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Kuriyan.

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Mishra, P.E., Shastri, L., Thomas, T. et al. Waist-to-height ratio as an indicator of high blood pressure in urban Indian school children. Indian Pediatr 52, 773–778 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-015-0715-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-015-0715-x

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