Journal of Hypertension: Open Access

High Blood Pressure and Diet Quality in the Spanish Childhood Population

Abstract

M. Dolores Marrodán, Noemí López-Ejeda, Marisa González-Montero De Espinosa, Jesús R. Martínez-Álvarez, Margarita Carmenate, M. Dolores Cabañas, Dolores Cabañas M, Antonio Villarino, Verónica Calabria, José L. Pacheco and Juan F. Romero-Collazos

The objective is to analyze the association between the degree of compliance with Mediterranean Diet and blood pressure in 1078 Spanish schoolchildren (514 boys, 564 girls) aged 9 to 16 years. We measured weight (kg), height (cm), waist circumference (cm), skinfold thicknesses (bicipital, tricipital, subscapular and suprailiac) and blood pressure. The Waist-to-Height Ratio (WtHR), Body Mass Index (BMI), and the percent body fat (%BF) were calculated. Subjects were classified as “underweight”, “normal weight”, “overweight” or “obese” according to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). Diet quality was assessed by the KIDMED Index and the hypertensive status according to National High BP Education Program Working Group.

Results show that media values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure significantly increase at the same time that diminished the quality of the diet. Schoolchildren with high blood pressure (4.66% boys; 4.78% girls) are not distributed uniformly in the different KIDMED categories. In the “poor” diet category (KIDMED-score <3) there were 8.33% of hypertensive children, in the “average” category (KIDMED-score 3-7) there were a 3.38% and, by contrast, there were not hypertensive children in “good” category (KIDMED-score > 7). A multiple linear regression analysis found that KIDMED index had a negative correlation with systolic and diastolic pressure. Also BMI and WtHR were positively correlated with both blood pressure levels, and % BF was associated only with diastolic BP. In conclusion, although the KIDMED index is a fast and simple tool to assess diet quality, it clearly reveals an inverse association between adherence to Mediterranean diet and blood pressure in healthy Spanish schoolchildren.