Elevated Blood Pressure and Its Associated Risk Factors among Adolescents of a North Indian City - A Cross-sectional Study

CONTEXT: Amidst the uncertainty in childhood blood pressure (BP) thresholds, besides the ambiguity in levels and duration of BP elevation causing organ damage, hypertension is present in substantial number of asymptomatic children and adolescents with only a few studies disclosing the setup. With projection of deaths due to noncommunicable diseases in 2030 rising to 52 million, it is necessary to know about the knowledge of present adolescents about BP and its modifiable risk factors. AIMS: (1) To assess the prevalence of elevated BP among adolescents and to ascertain the associated risk factors. (2) To assess adolescent's knowledge about BP and its modifiable factors. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on school going adolescents of Lucknow, from September 2014 to August 2015. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: BP, height, and weight were measured following standard protocols, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention charts for finding respective cut-off values and oral questionnaire for assessing lifestyle risk factors were used. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Chi-square, unpaired t-test, and logistic regression were used. RESULTS: Of the 1041 participants, elevated BP (BP percentile ≥90) was prevalent in 24.2%. On regression, factors such as obesity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 5.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.6–9.4), low fruit diet (aOR = 3.3, 95% CI = 2.1–5.4), and frequent junk food consumption (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.3–2.8) raised the odds of elevated BP while it was lowered by being physically active (aOR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.46–0.97). Of 86.3% of children (n = 898) who were fathomed of BP, only less than third (33% and 21.9%) acquainted of BP raising and lowering practices, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of high BP is colossal with only a few children knowing its amendable nature. Strenuous efforts targeting detrimental behaviors and imparting the sense of healthy lifestyle enhancing practices are vital to control this epidemic.