Comparison of some Anthropometric Parameters and Blood Pressure between Adolescents with Down Syndrome and Healthy Ones

Background: Most of the people with Down syndrome have short stature compared to general population. There is also a high prevalence of overweight and obesity, mainly in the adolescence and in the adult life. The aim of this study was to compare some anthropometric parameters, heart rate and blood pressure of children with Down syndrome and those with normal development. Down syndrome is among the most commonly classified categories of mental sub normality, with the incidence at birth being around 1: 700 and 1: 750 in live births in most countries worldwide, with the risk of increasing with mother's age. Methods: The sample consisted of 82 children, 32 with Down syndrome and 50 healthy children, male, aged 14-15 yr from the population of Kosovo in 2022. There were no health problems present in the healthy children. Results: About 53% of children with Down syndrome have normal body mass, 15.62% are overweight, and 21.8 are obese. In terms of blood pressure, Down syndrome children have higher systolic pressure (121.94mm/hg), sd +/- 21.69 than healthy children (111.18mm/hg, sd +/- 10.88). Conclusion: Children with Down syndrome had significantly higher body mass index, heart rate, and systolic pressure at rest compared to healthy children. However, after short physical activity, healthy children exhibited greater diastolic pressure than children with Down syndrome.