PP226 - THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN BODY MASS INDEX TRAJECTORY AND HYPERTENSION IN CHILDREN: A COHORT STUDY

PP226

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN BODY MASS INDEX TRAJECTORY AND HYPERTENSION IN CHILDREN: A COHORT STUDY

J. Wang^1,*, Y. He¹, Z. Yang¹, Y. Kong¹

¹National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

Rationale: Hypertension has shown an increasingly early onset trend, and high-quality evidence is still insufficient to clarify the critical periods and intervention targets for hypertension prevention.

Methods: This study was based on the Taicang and Wuqiang Mother-Child Cohort Study (TAWS) conducted in China. Children were followed from birth up to 8-11 years of age between 2013 and 2025. Age- and sex- specific body mass index Z scores (BAZ) were calculated according to WHO child growth standards. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify BAZ trajectories. Hypertension was defined as systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ the 95th percentile for the corresponding gender, age, and height. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the association between BAZ trajectory categories or BAZ at different ages and hypertension risk. Ethical approval (2013-001 and 2023-012) and written informed consent were obtained.

Results: Among the 917 children followed from birth to 8-11 years old, three distinct BAZ trajectories were identified: low declining (33.59%), moderately stable (49.29%), and high increasing (17.12%, Figure 1). The prevalence of hypertension among children aged 8-11 years was 19.63%. After adjusting for age, gender, birth weight, maternal weight, and parents' hypertension, children in the high-increasing BAZ group exhibited a higher hypertension risk (OR=3.43, 95% CI: 2.14-5.50, P<0.05) compared with the moderately stable group; children in the low-declining BAZ group presented a lower risk (OR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.16-0.49, P<0.05). Significant associations between BAZ and hypertension risk were observed from the age of 2 years, and the odds ratio rose gradually with age (Figure 2).

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Conclusion: Maintaining a stable or slightly declining BMI trajectory starting from early childhood (as early as 2 years of age) is associated with a reduced risk of hypertension in late childhood.

Disclosure of Interest: J. Wang Grant / Research Support from: National Health Commission of China (No. 102393260020070000001) and UNICEF (12241, 12217). , Y. He: None declared, Z. Yang: None declared, Y. Kong: None declared