P4.20 ASSESSMENT OF BODY COMPOSITION USING BIOELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN HEALTHY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Introduction: Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) is becoming more widely used in clinical practice to measure water body compartments. BIA allows to calculate: total body water (TBW), lean body mass (LBM), fat mass (FM), intra- and extracellular water (ICW, ECW). Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of body composition, measured by electrical bioimpedance, on blood pressure (BP) in children. Methods: The study was performed in 72 children (32 girls and 40 boys) aged: 6–7 and 12–13 years. BIA measurements were taken using Nutriguard Data Input device. Blood pressure was measured twice using oscillometric method. Results: 8 studied children had body weight <3rd percentile; 1 girl >97th percentile. A statistically significant correlation between systolic BP and TBW (r = 0.4023, p <0.000), LBM (r = 0.3600, p = 0.002), FM (r = 0.4725, p <0.000) ECW (r = 0.4598 p <0.000) and BMI (r = 0.4089 p <0.000) was found. Furthermore, diastolic BP significantly correlated with TBW (r = 0.3056, p = 0.011), LBM (r = 0.2783, p = 0.021), FM (r = 0.3956, p <0.000) ECW (r = 0.3869 p = 0.001) and BMI (r = 0.3550, p = 0.002). Elevated BP values > 95th percentile for gender, age and height were observed in 5 girls and 4 boys. Conclusions: In the studied children systolic and diastolic BP values correlated with body composition parameters. The problem of unrecognized hypertension and malnutrition in children and adolescents is still underestimated in the Polish population.