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Updated: May 11, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric measures and blood pressure in school children
Deise Cristiane Moser1, Isabela de Carlos Back Giuliano, Ana Cláudia Kapp Titski
1Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil. deisemoser@yahoo.com.br
Objective:
To investigate the association of blood pressure and body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and triceps skinfold, in children and adolescents in Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study with a random sample of 1,441 students from public schools, aged from 10 to 16 years (655 boys and 786 girls). The following indicators were assessed: weight, height, waist circumference, triceps skinfold, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, pubertal stage, and socioeconomic status. Pearson correlation tests and multivariate logistic regression were used, considering p<0.05.
Results:
We found weak correlations among all the anthropometric parameters and systolic and diastolic levels, with coefficients values ranging from 0.18 to 0.28 (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, only body mass index [odds ratio (OR)=2.9; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.9-4.5] and triceps skinfold (OR=1.9; 95%CI 1.3-3.1) were found as predictors of high blood pressure, regardless of abdominal adiposity, sexual maturation and socioeconomic status.
Conclusion:
Total body adiposity seems to be a better predictor of high blood pressure risk than abdominal fat in this population.
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