[Blood pressure and its association with physical activity and obesity in adolescents: a systematic review]

In the light of the importance of the impacts that obesity and physical activity may have on blood pressure (BP) among adolescents, and the suggestion that abnormal pressure levels at young ages are maintained into more mature stages of these individuals' lives, the scope of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the associations between obesity and BP and between physical activity and BP among adolescents. The PubMed database was consulted to search for scientific articles relating to this topic and, after applying the appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 articles were selected and analyzed. To assess the quality of articles Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology was applied. The results suggest that despite the existence of hegemonic thinking to guide these relationships, BP and physical activity do not always have negative associations, and BP and obesity do not always have positive associations. The conclusion reached is that this situation illustrates the need for more in-depth reflection on these relationships before pre-established paradigms are passively accepted.