Abstract

Background: Globally, hypertension is a major disease burden affecting nearly 1 billion people. India in 2000 had 41.5 million people with hypertension which is estimated to increase by another 5 million by the year 2025. Association of high blood pressure (BP) among siblings as well as between parents and children has been shown by various studies establishing hereditary nature of hypertension. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to measure and correlate the anthropometric parameters of normotensive offsprings of hypertensive parents (HTP) and normotensive offsprings of normotensive parents.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 200 healthy subjects in the age group of 18–20 years after the approval of the ethical committee of the institute. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference, fat percentage, and BP were measured with standard technique and analyzed using Chi-square test.
Results: About 71.4% of males and 45.5% of females of HTP showed increased BMI (P = 0.002**). 57.1% of males and 56.4% of females of HTP showed increased body fat percentage (P = 0.01*). 50% of males and 41.8% of females of HTP showed increased WC (P = 0.000***). 21.4% of males and 10.9% of females of HTP showed increased diastolic BP (P = 0.04*). Conclusion: Offsprings of HTP should be considered as a special group. Health professionals who deal with patients with cardiovascular diseases should utilize every opportunity to involve the families concerned in screening, follow–up, and health education.