Elevated arterial blood pressure and body mass index among Nigerian preschool children population

Background: Arterial blood pressure tends to rise with growth and development. Elevated blood pressure (EBP) in children usually occurs during the first two decades of life, and the children with hypertension tend to grow into adulthood with the high level of blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension in children is increasing, the causes likely to be of different combination of factors. In this study we ascertained the prevalence of EBP in pre-school children in Enugu metropolis, South-East Nigeria and also determined its association with some factors like the Body Mass Index (BMI), urinalysis finding, family history, gender, age and socioeconomic class. Method: A Stratified method of sampling was used to select subjects from registered nursery schools (Pre-elementary school) within Enugu metropolis. Physical examination of the recruited pupils was done with emphasis on arterial blood pressure, anthropometric measurements and urinalysis. Result: Six hundred and thirty children (630) were studied out of which 345 (54.8%) were males and 285 (45.2%) were females. Sustained EBP (mainly systolic) were recorded in 12 pupils (1.9%) giving a prevalence of 1.9% of the pre-school population. The twelve (1.9%) pupils were all 5 years of age (p value = 0.001) and 11 (1.72%) of them were of under-weight BMI. The prevalence of obesity is 0.5% and that of under-weight is 92% of the studied population. There is no association between EBP and obesity (p value = 0.679). All the pupils with EBP had protein-free urine and no hematuria. Conclusions: EBP and under-weight malnutrition is common in children in 5 years age group. EBP in preschool children is not influenced by their body mass index, urinalysis finding, gender, family history of hypertension or socioeconomic class.