Central Adiposity, Aerobic Fitness, and Blood Pressure in Premenopausal Hispanic Women[*]

Abstract

Hispanics comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population. Mexican-American adults are more likely to be overweight, physically inactive, diabetic, and to have higher levels of hypertension than are white adults. However, studies addressing the relationship between physical fitness and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors among Mexican-Americans are much less conclusive. Therefore, understanding the etiology of factors influencing resting systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in Hispanic women was the aim of this investigation. SBP, DBP, peak oxygen uptake (peak VO₂), weekly physical activity, waist (WC) and hip circumference, blood glucose, and levels of plasma lipids (triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol) of 39 Hispanic women age 22 - 51 years were measured. Factors with significant correlation to SBP were age, WC, sagittal diameter, and weight. Similarly, significant correlations were observed between anthropometric indices, age, and DBP. Peak VO₂ (r = - 0.53, p < 0.01) and heart rate at maximal effort (r = - 0.34, p ≤ 0.05) were inversely associated to DBP. There was also a strong inverse correlation (r = - 0.53, p < 0.01) between peak VO₂ and CAD risk profile (created from one or the combination of: hypertension, obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, smoking). Stepwise multiple linear regression revealed that 33 % of the variance in SBP is attributed to age (25 %), and WC (8 %), while DBP is explained by WC alone (26 %). The addition of peak VO₂ did not make significant contributions to the variances in SBP or DBP. The findings of this study suggest that central adiposity is an important predictor of resting blood pressure in Hispanic women. The inverse association between aerobic fitness and diastolic blood pressure as well as CAD risk factors suggests that recommendations regarding prevention of hypertension in this population should be based on the interrelationships between physical fitness and obesity.

Obesity - waist circumference - hypertension - exercise - V·O_2max

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1 This study was supported by the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Funding for Cancer Control Research Projects was awarded to C. Anderson Johnson.