Ambulatory blood pressure profile in office normotensive obese children: prevalence of masked hypertension and impact of parental hypertension.

Objectives The objectives of this study were to analyze ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) data in office normotensive obese children, to determine the prevalence and characteristics of masked hypertension (MH) and to investigate the impact of parental hypertension (PH) on ABP. Methods Seventy-nine obese and 35 normal weight children were enrolled. Each weight group was further divided in accordance with the presence of PH. ABP was recorded in an outpatient setting. Results Obese children had higher systolic ABP (p<0.05) and heart rate (p<0.001) compared with normal weight children. In obese children with PH, only nighttime systolic ABP (p=0.01) was higher compared with obese without PH, whereas normal weight children with PH had higher 24 h and daytime systolic and diastolic BP (all p<0.05) and nighttime DBP (p<0.001) compared with those without PH. PH but not obesity was associated with nondipping phenomenon. Prevalence of MH in the whole group was 23.6% being significantly higher in obese than in nonobese subjects (31.6 vs. 5.7%; p=0.0026) as well as in obese subjects with PH compared with obese subjects without PH (48.7 vs. 15%; χ2=10.37; p=0.001). MH was diagnosed more frequently in obese with high-normal office BP compared with obese with normal office BP, although it did not reach statistical significance (50 vs. 26.2%; χ2=3.631; p=0.056). In the normal weight group, neither PH nor office BP category had an impact on the prevalence of MH. Conclusions Office normotensive obese children had higher ABP values. MH was associated with obesity, PH and high-normal BP.