The association between body silhouette over the life course and adult systolic blood pressure (SBP) in Hong Kong Chinese women

Objective: Obesity and increases in body weight in adults are considered to be among the most important risk factors for hypertension. We aimed to examine to what extent the evolution of body shape, from childhood to adulthood, is related to systolic blood pressure (SBP) in late adulthood. Methods: This study was integrated in a life course epidemiology study among 35-65 years old female nurses in Hong Kong. Three rounds of mail surveys were conducted, 1253 nurses participated in the study. Information on body silhouette, height, current weight, systolic blood pressure and other variables was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. These self-reported variables have been validated in a pilot study. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among participants was 30.6% (BMI >=23 kg/m2, for Asian standard defined by WHO); the prevalence of hypertension was 10.6%. Body silhouette at 5 years and 10 years had no significant associations with SBP (all P(trend) < 0.05); whereas the body silhouette at 20, 30, 40, 50 years were positively associated with the SBP(all P(trend) < 0.05) respectively, with an increase in SBP related to a larger body silhouette. Current body silhouette had the strongest association with SBP (coefficient B= 3.21, 95% CI: 2.63 to 3.79). An increase in body silhouette from childhood to mid-adulthood led to an increase in SBP. Conclusions: Women tended to get fatter throughout the life course. Higher body size during adulthood predicted higher SBP. Keep on a rational body size during life course is important.