Inter-relationships between body mass index, C-reactive protein and blood pressure in a Hispanic pediatric population

BACKGROUND The link between inflammation, obesity, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been described in adult populations but few data are available with respect to children. The aim of this study was to describe the inter-relationships between adiposity, C-reactive protein (CRP) plasma concentrations, and blood pressure levels in a Hispanic pediatric population. METHODS We included 325 schoolchildren (mean age, 10.0 years) selected from the school population of Bucaramanga, Colombia. Blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose, and CRP plasma concentration were measured using standard procedures. Body mass index (BMI) was used for evaluating the children's nutritional condition. Correlation coefficients were calculated for all the variables using Spearman's test. RESULTS As expected, a positive correlation was found between BMI and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in both genders, and between CRP and SBP levels in boys. After a multivariate regression analysis, the association between adiposity and blood pressure remained significant, whereas the CRP concentrations were no longer associated with SBP. CONCLUSIONS The results obtained in our study of Hispanic school-age children show that adiposity is correlated with CRP concentrations and SBP values as has been earlier described in Caucasian populations. However, we failed to find a significant relationship between low-grade inflammation and SBP levels. Further studies are needed in order to explore alternative pathophysiological mechanisms linking obesity and high blood pressure in children and to define the impact of these associations on the cardiovascular risk of our pediatric population.