The San Antonio Biethnic Children's Blood Pressure Study: anthropometric findings.

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are very prevalent today, and early detection of the precursors of these diseases is important. Increased weight and body mass indexes (BMIs) are known to be risk factors for these adult diseases. The objectives of this portion of the study were to obtain anthropometric measurements known to correlate with children's blood pressure levels and to compare these measurements among Mexican-American (M-A) females and males and non-Hispanic white (W) females and males. These data will allow healthcare providers to know normal weights and BMIs for different ethnic groups so that early detection of risk factors can be done. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, BMI, subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness, and arm circumference) were obtained on 4,195 M-A and 2,039 W children in kindergarten through 12th grade in two school districts in the San Antonio, Texas, area. Data were statistically analyzed and related to age. M-A males had a tendency to be heavier than W males throughout the ages studied. M-A females had a tendency to be heavier than W females until 11 years of age, but that trend was reversed between ages 14 and 18. For all four subgroups, there was a marked skewness toward obesity based on BMI (kg/m2). Height of M-A children beginning as early as 5 years of age was slightly but significantly (P > or = .05) less than that of W children of the same gender. M-A males and females had either a tendency for or significantly higher values (P > or = .05) for BMI than W counterparts. M-A children had larger subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness than their W counterparts, with females showing greater values than males. The data indicate that there are several important differences in weight, height, BMI, and skinfold thickness between M-A and W children and between boys and girls as noted above. There are also considerable increases in weight with a relatively stable height in all four subgroups since the last published growth charts.