Relationship between blood pressure and body mass index among primary and middle school students in Shenzhen

Objective To understand the correlation between blood pressure and body mass index(BMI) among primary and middle school students in Shenzhen and to provide reference for early prevention of hypertension.Methods A total of 40 989 students from 10 primary,10 middle and 10 high schools in Shenzhen were selected as the subjects.Height,weight and blood pressure were examined.Results The prevalence of hypertension among students in Shenzhen reached 12.49%.The detection rates of high systolic pressure and high diastolic pressure were 9.07% and 5.70% respectively.The detection rates of hypertension,high systolic pressure and high diastolic pressure were higher among obese students(23.79%,19.72% and 9.61%),compared with students with normal BMI,which was 10.67%,7.38% and 5.15% respectively.Correlation analysis indicated that systolic and diastolic blood pressure were positively correlated with BMI in male and female students(P<0.01).Students with higher BMI had elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure.Conclusion The status of blood pressure among primary and middle school students in Shenzhen is not optimistic.Consider significant association between elevated blood pressure with high BMI,the need to always conduct blood pressure monitoring for all obese students is also recommended.