Cardiorespiratory fitness, adiposity, and ambulatory blood pressure in adolescents

• Published in: The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness
• Main Authors: Park, Eunduck, Volding, Devin C, Taylor, Wendell C, Chan, Wenyaw, Meininger, Janet C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01.06.2020
• ISSN: 1827-1928
• DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.10279-2

This study examined the association of cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) and adiposity (body mass index [BMI] and waist circumference [WC]) with ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and tested the moderating effect of adiposity on the association between fitness and ABP. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 370 adolescents aged 11-16 years. Fitness was assessed by a height-adjusted step test and estimated by heart rate recovery, defined as the difference between peak heart rate during exercise and heart rate two minutes post- exercise. Adiposity was measured using dichotomized values for percentiles of BMI (≥ 85th) and WC (≥ 50th). ABP was measured every 30-60 minutes over 24 hours on a school day. Mixed- effects regression analysis was used. Each unit increase in fitness was associated with a decrease of systolic blood pressure (SBP) [-0.058 mmHg, P = 0.001] and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [-0.043 mmHg, P < 0.001] after adjustment for WC and covariates. Each unit increase in fitness was associated with a decrease in SBP [-0.058 mmHg, P = 0.001] and DBP [-0.045 mmHg, P < 0.001] after adjustment for BMI and covariates. Fitness and BMI ≥ 85th percentile (or WC ≥ 50th percentile) interactions were not associated with ABP after adjustment for covariates. Our findings indicate a small but statistically significant inverse effect of fitness on ABP in adolescents. No evidence of a modifying effect of adiposity on this association suggesting that fitness and weight management have essential roles for maintaining lower ABP in adolescents.