Hypertension and its determinants among school going adolescents in selected urban slums of Nagpur city, Maharashtra: A cross-sectional study

Early detection of hypertension and its risk factors are considered the best possible intervention to avoid complications later in life. Our study was conducted to assess the prevalence of hypertension and its determinants among adolescents of selected schools in slums of Nagpur city, India. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 910 school students of Class-VI to IX studying at selected government schools of Nandanvan area, Nagpur city, Central India. A questionnaire for diet, behaviour and mental health was adapted from the Global School Health Survey Questionnaire. Children were considered hypertensive if the systolic or diastolic BP or both were ≥95th centile considering height, age and sex. We found 10.6% and 12.9% were pre-hypertensive and hypertensive respectively. Inadequate physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle were reported in 62.3% and 22.7%. In adjusted analysis, father's occupation, family history of Hypertension, mental health symptoms and overweight had significantly increased odds of developing hypertension. As prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors are high amongst the school students, the need to develop school based focused intervention is paramount.