Childhood obesity elevates blood pressure and total cholesterol independent of physical activity.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the habitual physical activity, blood pressure, total cholesterol levels of obese and non-obese matched children.

SUBJECTS

546 obese children (BMI and sum of skinfolds > or = 90% tile) were matched for gender, race, age, and height (within 2 cm) with non-obese controls for a total sample of 1092 children.

MEASUREMENTS

Systolic (BPsys) and diastolic (BPdia) blood pressure by mercury sphygmomanometer, total cholesterol by reflectance photometry, and physical activity by questionnaire.

RESULTS

Mean comparisons indicated the obese children, regardless of gender, had higher BPsys (108 +/- 11 vs 104 +/- 10 mm Hg, P = 0.0001), BPdia (70 +/- 9 vs 68 +/- 8 mm Hg, P = 0.002), and greater total cholesterol levels (4.47 +/- 0.80 vs 4.11 +/- 0.75 mmol/L, P = 0.0001) than the non-obese subjects. Self-reported physical activity scores were not significantly different when comparing the obese and non-obese children. Correlations between self-reported activity and cholesterol or blood pressure were all very low and not significant (r < or = 0.06).

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that childhood obesity is associated with higher blood pressures and greater circulating cholesterol levels independent of physical activity levels.