The Relationship Between Obesity and the Risk of Systemic Arterial Hypertension in Children and Adolescents: Lessons Learned

One out of five children around the world is overweight or obese. This is shown in the meta-analysis published by Zhang X et al. in 2024, which included 2,033 studies from 154 different countries or regions. Although the prevalence of childhood obesity varies between global regions, it is evident that its incidence is growing significantly. According to the latest United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Bank estimates, 33.6% of children and adolescents 5-19 years old are affected by overweight or obesity, as are 8% of children under the age of five. Recently, Muyulema SL et al. published the results of global childhood overweight and obesity trends over the last 20 years. In this study, they analyzed 194 countries around the world, showing that the global prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity increased from 5.4% to 5.7% between 2000 and 2022.

Inflammation, Metabolic Syndrome and Systemic Hypertension: “a dangerous and synergistic triad”: Metabolic Syndrome (MS) has been well defined in adults, and includes various conditions like Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH), elevated fasting blood sugar levels (greater than 100 mg/dl) or type 2 diabetes mellitus, low HDL cholesterol levels (less than 40 mg/dl in men or 50 mg/dl in women), high triglyceride concentrations (greater than 150 mg/dl), and a waist circumference greater than 101 cm (men) or 90 cm (women). It is not clearly defined in children, due to the imprecision of the various factors that compose it and the changes in different stages of life. However, risk factors like obesity, increased waist circumference (increased visceral fat), insulin resistance, and, in certain cases, lipid profile abnormalities, are compatible with MS, especially in children over the age of 10.

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