Association of body segments and body composition with blood pressure in young adults

Skeletal structure and body composition may be altered permanently in response to aggressions during critical periods of growth. This increases propensity to adverse effects in adulthood. The study explored the association of anthropometric variables of body size and proportions and of body composition with systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure (BP) in young adults. We studied 166 men and 246 women age 20-34. SBP, DBP, weight, stature, sitting height, circumferences (waist, hip), breadths (biacromial, biiliac) and skinfolds (bicipital, tricipital, subscapular, suprailiac) were assessed. BMI, waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-stature ratio, and I skinfolds-stature were calculated. Pearson correlations were determined for anthropometric variables with SBP and DBP and linear regression models for SBP and DBP were developed by sex. Correlation coefficients between indicators and BP were significant, except for stature and SBP and DPB, and WHR with DBP in women; and stature with DBP, bidiac breadth and WHR with SBP, and sitting height with SBP and DPB in men. SBP and DPB were explained by weight, BMI, and biiliac breadth in multivariable analysis in women, where 15.4% and 10.8% of variance of SBP and DPB was explained. In men, SBP was explained by weight, 1 skinfolds and WHR, and DBP by Z skinfolds; models explained almost 20% of SBP and DPB variance. No association was found between BP and past malnutrition indicators. Biiliac breadth, weight and BMI in women, and weight, WHR and Z skinfolds in men explained BP. The use of biiliac breadth in the assessment of hypertension risk in women should be explored further.