Prevalence of hypertension in argentinean indigenous children living at high altitudes versus US children.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to hypoxia at high altitude is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for hypertension. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of hypertension in Indigenous Argentinean children living at high altitude with that reported in the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of US children. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 811 (400 females) Argentinean Indigenous school children (8-14 years) from San Antonio de los Cobres (SAC) was performed between 2011-2014. SAC is located in the Andean foothills 3,750 m above sea level. 98% of its population is Indigenous. Anthropometric, BP, and biochemical data were obtained from SAC and compared with those of 1279 (625 females) US children. Pre-hypertension and hypertension were defined by BP≥90th to <95th percentile or ≥95th percentile, respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity was significantly lower in SAC (22; 2.7%) than in the US (310; 24.3%). However, the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in SAC (129; 15.9%) than in US children (35; 2.9%). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that SAC children had four times the odds of having pre-hypertension compared with US children (OR 4.47; 95% CI 3.29-6.08), and eight times the odds of presenting hypertension (OR 8.36; 95% CI 5.36-13.05), adjusted for age, gender, and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a higher prevalence of hypertension in Indigenous Argentinean children living at high altitude compared with US children. Various factors such as high hemoglobin levels, lifestyle behavior, and genetics may have an influence on BP in high altitude Indigenous SAC children. ABBREVIATIONS: BP: Blood pressure; SAC: San Antonio de los Cobres; CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Association between vitamin D and Apo B concentrations in Argentinean Indian children.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and its association with non-traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as Apo B in South American Indian school children. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 355 children (166 Males) aged 9.6±2.3 y was performed. Anthropometric measures, glucose, lipids, insulin, Apo B, Apo A, and vitamin D concentrations were measured. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 10.7% (38) per CDC. One child (0.3%) had optimal vitamin D concentrations [25(OH)D[>30 ng/ml. Univariate analysis showed significant associations between vitamin D and HDL-C (r=0.12 p<0.05), age (r=-0.11 p<0.05) BMI (r=-0.22 p<0.05), LDL-C (r=-0.22 p<0.01), triglycerides (r=-0.16 p<0.01), non HDL-C (r=-0.21 p<0.01), Apo B (r=-0.23 p<0.01), Apo B/Apo A (r=-0.21 p<0.01), insulin (r=-0.17 p<0.05), and HOMA-IR (r=-0.16 p<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that female gender and Apo B were significantly associated with vitamin D adjusted for confounding factors (R(2) 0.12). CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased Apo B among Indian children, suggesting that it could be used as a risk marker of CVD.