ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Cardiology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1643812
Longitudinal blood pressure and body mass index in South African adolescents
Provisionally accepted
- 1North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
- 2Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Research Focus Area, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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Aim: Blood pressure (BP) is known to be affected by body mass index (BMI) from an early age, but research in South African youth is scarce. We assessed longitudinal trends and relationships between BP measures and BMI in a South African adolescent cohort. Materials and methods: This longitudinal study (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) included 121 South African adolescent boys and girls of Black and White ethnicity from the Physical Activity Health Longitudinal Study. Measures included systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure, mid-blood pressure (Mid-BP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and BMI. Results: Over four years, significant increases (p<0.05) in BMI, SBP, DBP, PP, Mid-BP, and MAP were observed in adolescents (p<0.001). BMI was consistently and positively associated with various BP measures across the study period. In 2012, BMI associated with SBP (β=0.22; p=0.018), DBP (β=0.22; p=0.018), Mid-BP (β=0.24; p=0.009), and MAP (β=0.24; p=0.009). These associations persisted in 2013, with stronger relationships observed for SBP (β=0.27; p=0.003), DBP (β=0.21; p=0.030), Mid-BP (β=0.27; p=0.004), and MAP (β=0.27; p=0.005). In 2014, BMI associated with Mid-BP (β=0.22; p=0.017) and MAP (β=0.23; p=0.015). After adjusting for the previous year's BP, BMI positively associated with SBP (β=0.23; p=0.013) in 2013 and DBP (β=0.19; p=0.049) in 2014. Significant associations remained between BMI and Mid-BP (β=0.18-0.21; p=0.022-0.047) and MAP (β=0.19-0.20; p=0.028-0.045) across 2012 and 2013. Conclusion: Cumulatively increasing BP significantly and positively associated with BMI, suggesting that increasing BMI may contribute to elevated BP during adolescence. Early identification and targeted lifestyle interventions are required to mitigate obesity-related elevated BP in South African adolescents.
Keywords: Adolescent, Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, Diastolic, mean arterial, mid, Systolic
Received: 09 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 van Niekerk, Kruger, Sedumedi, Brits and Monyeki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Makama Andries Monyeki, Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Research Focus Area, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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