Excess Weight, Other Risk Factors and Their Relationship With Hypertension in Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Arterial hypertension constitutes a health problem, as a disease and as a risk factor for other chronic non-communicable diseases. Excess weight is frequently associated with it and in adolescence it constitutes a challenge for primary care.

Objective: To characterize the relationship between excess weight and the appearance of arterial hypertension and other risk factors in adolescents.

Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional research, carried out at the "Chiqui Gómez" polyclinic in Santa Clara, during 2021. Sixty-one adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age, with excess weight, were included and selected through a probabilistic sampling, with a single-stage cluster design. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and the two-phase clustering procedure were used.

Results: Overweight predominated in the group. Eighteen percent were grade I hypertensive and 3.3% were grade II hypertensive. With the increase in excess weight, an increase in blood pressure was observed in adolescents. There was a greater propensity to higher obesity as the gradient of excess weight and blood pressure increased. Two natural sub-groups were identified on the basis of nutritional assessment and risk factors: one (49.2 %) characterized by obesity and risk factors, and another subgroup (50.8 %), mainly with a high incidence of obesity.

Conclusions: There was a correlation among the excess weight, arterial hypertension and other risk factors in the adolescents.