Blood Pressure Levels Among Indigenous Children Living at Different Altitudes.

OBJECTIVE: To compare blood pressure (BP) levels in two groups of indigenous Argentine school children from similar ethnic backgrounds but living at different altitudes.

METHODS: 152 (46.3%) children (age 4-14 years) from San Antonio de los Cobres (SAC), at 3750 m above sea level, and 176 children (53.7%) from Chicoana (CH), at 1400 m, participated in this cross-sectional study. Data for children's anthropometry, BP, glucose, lipids, vitamin D, and insulin, as well as mothers' height and weight, were assessed. Hypertension was defined as BP ≥95th percentile.

RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity among children was significantly lower in SAC (n=17, 11.2%) than in CH (n=74, 42%) (BMI >85th percentile per US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention norms). However, the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher among children in SAC (n=15, 9.9%) than among those in CH (n=2, 1.1%). Children were divided into 4 groups by mean arterial BP quartiles for comparison by analysis of variance. As mean arterial BP increased, age, BMI, glucose, triglycerides, triglycerides/ HDL-C, and insulin levels increased significantly. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that children's mean arterial BP was significantly associated with altitude adjusted for confounding variables (R2=0.42). Furthermore, when mean arterial BP was replaced by systolic BP (R2=0.51) or diastolic BP (R2=0.33), similar results were obtained.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that indigenous children who live permanently at high altitude have higher levels of BP, adjusted for confounding variables. Routine BP measurements conducted in the SAC community could be essential for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.