Mild stunting is associated with higher blood pressure in overweight adolescents.

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown that pre/postnatal undernutrition leads to higher risk of non communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity in adulthood.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether overweight adolescents with mild stunting [height-for-age Z scores (HAZ) in the range <-1 to ≥ -2] have higher blood pressure than overweight individuals with normal stature (HAZ ≥ -1).

METHODS

Participants were classified as mildly stunted or of normal stature, and further stratified according to body mass index-for-age percentiles as overweight, normal or underweight. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DPB) blood pressures were determined according to guidelines, and abdominal fat was analyzed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS

Mild stunted overweight individuals showed higher DBP values (p=0.001) than their underweight counterparts (69.75 ± 12.03 and 54.46 ± 11.24 mmHg, respectively), but similar to those of normal BMI. No differences were found in DBP values of normal, overweight and underweight individuals among the normal stature groups. An increase in SBP (p=0.01) among mild stunted individuals was found when those with overweight were compared to their underweight and normal BMI counterparts (114.70 ± 15.46, 97.38 ± 10.87 and 104.72 ± 12.24 mmHg, respectively). Although no differences were observed in the means of SBP between mild stunting and normal stature groups, a significant intercept was found (p=0.01), revealing higher SBP among stunted individuals. There was a correlation between SBP and abdominal fat (r=0.42, ρ=0.02) in the stunted group.

CONCLUSION

Stunted individuals with overweight showed higher SBP than those of normal stature and overweight. These findings confirm that mild stunting increase the risk of future hypertension and alterations are evident at early age.