Important association between body mass index and blood pressure reactivity in male adolescents

• Published in: Journal of exercise physiology online Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 28 - 39
• Main Authors: Vila Nova de Moraes, Jose Fernando, Magalhaes Sales, Marcelo, Yukio Asano, Ricardo, Oliveira Carvalho, Ferdinando, Rodrigues Moreira, Sergio, Grubert Campbell, Carmen Silvia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society of Exercise Physiologists 01.02.2014
• Subjects: Body mass index; Demographic aspects; Genetic aspects; Measurement; Obesity in adolescence; Physiological aspects; Risk factors; Brazil
• ISSN: 1097-9751; 1097-9751

The purpose of this study was to verify blood pressure (BP) responses to the Cold Pressor Test (CPT) in male adolescents according to their body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%). Subjects consisted of 163 male adolescents with a mean age of 16.25 ± 1.32 yrs, body weight of 65.21 ± 12.86 kg, height of 172.71 ± 6.61 cm, and BMI of 21.77 ± 3.65 kg x [m.sup.-2]. Anthropometric assessment and blood pressure measurements were performed at rest, during, and 1 min after the CPT. The results showed that 20.9% of the subjects were overweight or obese, 16.0% had high resting BP and 33.7% were hyper-reactive to the CPT. The subjects with increased BMI presented significantly higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) than their normal weight peers at rest (129.26 ± 13.04 vs. 118.53 ± 11.88 mmHg for SBP, and 73.18 ± 7.63 vs. 68.67 ± 8.73 mmHg for DBP), during (147.56 ± 21.61 vs. 130.54 ± 17.94 mmHg for SBP and 88.88 ± 14.62 vs. 82.26 ± 12.92 mmHg for DBP) and 1 min after CPT (135.70 [+ or -] 17.55 vs. 119.58 ± 14.13 mmHg for SBP, and 78.26 ± 10.70 vs. 70.69 ± 9.90 mmHg for DBP), respectively. Subjects with an increase in BMI and BF% presented higher odds of being hyper-reactive to CPT when compared to normal weight adolescents. Therefore, we conclude that overweight and obese adolescents have enhanced blood pressure responses under stress. Key Words: Obesity, Adolescents, Cold Pressor Test, Blood Pressure Reactivity.