Obesity and elevated blood pressure in suburban student athletes

ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence of obesity and elevated blood pressure in a suburban population of middle school and high school student athletes and examine the differences from the previously published populations.Study designThe Student Athlete Cardiac Evaluation Registry Study is a single-centre, community hospital-based registry study, that provided free annual preparticipation physical examinations (PPE) from 2009 to 2017. The PPE on the 906 athletes included a history, a physical examination and body metrics including height, weight and blood pressure. The blood pressure was measured with an automated blood pressure cuff and, if elevated, was remeasured using a manual blood pressure cuff with aneroid manometer. The data from the PPE were collected and analysed for prevalence of obesity, overweight and elevated blood pressure measurements.ResultsThe prevalence of obesity was 11%, and 19% of participants were overweight. Many of the athletes had an elevated blood pressure (15%). There was a significant association (P