Trajectories of Systolic Blood Pressure in Children: Risk Factors and Cardiometabolic Correlates

Objective To identify systolic blood pressure (SBP) percentile trajectories in children and to describe the early-life risk factors and cardiometabolic correlates of those trajectories. Study design Using age-, sex-, and height-specific SBP percentiles based on the American Academy of Pediatrics reference, we examined SBP trajectories using latent class mixed models from ages 3 to 8 years (n = 844) from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes-study, a Singaporean mother-offspring cohort study. We analyzed associations between SBP trajectories and early-life risk factors using multinomial logistic regression and differences across trajectories in cardiometabolic outcomes using multiple linear regression. Results Children were classified into 1 of 4 SBP percentile trajectories: low increasing (15%), high stable (47%), high decreasing (20%), and low stable (18%). Maternal hypertension during early pregnancy was a predictor of the high stable and low increasing SBP trajectories. Rapid child weight gain in the first 2 years of life was only associated with the high stable trajectory. Compared with children in the low stable trajectory, children in the high stable SBP trajectory had greater body mass index z scores, sum of skinfold thicknesses, waist circumference from ages 3 to 8 years, and abdominal adipose tissue (milliliters) at 4.5 years (adjusted mean difference [95% CI]: superficial and deep subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue: 115.2 [48.1-182.3] and 85.5 [35.2-135.8]). Their fat mass (kilograms) (1.3 [0.6-2.0]), triglyceride levels (mmol/L) (0.10 [0.02-0.18]), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (0.28 [0.11 0.46]) at age 6 years were also greater but not their arterial thickness and stiffness. Conclusions Reducing maternal blood pressure during pregnancy and infant weight gain in the first 2 years of life might help to prevent the development of high SBP.

Automated summary

The study identified four SBP percentile trajectories in children and found that maternal hypertension during early pregnancy and rapid child weight gain in the first 2 years of life were associated with higher SBP trajectories. Children in the high stable SBP trajectory had greater body fat and metabolic risk factors compared to children in the low stable trajectory.