Body fat percentage, obesity, and their relation to the incidental risk of hypertension

Studies have indicated that increased body fat is associated with cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension. However, there is only limited information about the influence of body fat percentage (BF%) on incident hypertension. In a cohort of Korean genome epidemiology study (KoGES), 4864 non-hypertensive participants were divided into 5 quintile groups, and followed-up for 10 years to monitor incident hypertension. Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the hazard ratio (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for hypertension (adjusted HRs [95% CI]) according to BF% quintile groups. Subgroup analysis was conducted by low or high level of BF% (cutoff: 22.5% in men and 32.5% in women) and low or high level of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). In adjusted model, compared with BF% quintile 1, the risk of incident hypertension significantly increased over BF% quintile 3 (BF% >= 19.9%) in men (quintile 3:1.42 [1.10-1.85], quintile 4:1.58 [1.22-2.05], quintile 5:1.82 [1.40-2.36]), and quintile 4 (BF% >= 32.5%) in women (quintile 4:1.48 [1.12-1.94], quintile 5:1.56 [1.20-2.04]). Subgroup analysis showed that individuals with high BF% were significantly associated with the increased risk of hypertension even in individuals with low BMI, WC, and WHR. The risk of hypertension increased proportionally to BF% over the specific level of BF% in Koreans. Even in non-obese individuals, increase in BF% was significantly associated with the increased risk of hypertension.