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Regular exercise and a healthy dietary pattern are associated with lower resting blood pressure in non-obese adolescents: a population-based study

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 27, pages 304–308 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The study aims to assess the association of diet and frequency of extracurricular physical activity (PA) on blood pressure (BP) in non-obese adolescents. A total of 7185 non-obese adolescents aged 12–18 years were analysed to elucidate the relationship between BP and exercise/eating habit. Totally, 10.3% of the boys and 4.6% of the girls who responded to the questionnaire reported undertaking regular extracurricular physical exercise ⩾3 times/week and were classified as being physically active. An unhealthy eating habit (UEH) score was constructed by counting the number of ‘yes’ responses to 11 dietary behavioural items considered to be unhealthy. In logistic regression analysis, age, body mass index, exercise frequency and UEH were significantly associated with BP (P<0.001). The odds ratios (ORs) for high BP in physically more active adolescents vs those who were less active was 0.48 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30–0.77). The OR for high BP in those with UEH scores in the highest quartile vs those with UEH scores in the lowest quartile was 1.63 (95% CI 1.24–2.15). In conclusion, regular exercise and a healthy diet are positively associated with lower BP even in non-obese adolescents.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the school principals, teachers, parents and students who participated in the study. This research project received financial support from Departmental funds and the Hong Kong Pediatric Society. Parental consent was obtained for conducting the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    H K So, A M Li, R Y T Sung & E A S Nelson

  2. The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    K C Choi

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Correspondence to E A S Nelson.

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So, H., Li, A., Choi, K. et al. Regular exercise and a healthy dietary pattern are associated with lower resting blood pressure in non-obese adolescents: a population-based study. J Hum Hypertens 27, 304–308 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2012.41

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