Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study population by blood pressure category1 and sex.
| All | Normal BP | Pre-hypertension | Hypertension | Girls | Boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, n (%) | Girls | 1267 | 494 (79.3) | 70 (11.2) | 59 (9.5) | 623 (49.2) | 644 (50.8) |
| Boys | 514 (79.8) | 78 (12.1) | 52 (8.1) | ||||
| Age, years | Mean (SD) | 6.25 (1.7) | 6.27 (1.7) | 5.93 (1.9) | 6.49 (2.0) | 6.26 (1.7) | 6.24 (1.8) |
| 2-<6 years, n (%) | 509 (40.2) | 406 (79.8) | 66 (13.0) | 37 (7.3) | 253 (49.7) | 256 (50.3) | |
| 6-<10 years, n (%) | 758 (59.8) | 602 (79.4) | 82 (10.8) | 74 (9.8) | 370 (48.8) | 388 (51.2) | |
| BP, Mean (SD) | SBP (mmHg) | 101.4 (9.60) | 98.8 (7.57) | 107.4 (7.88) | 117.2 (9.43) | 101.0 (9.52) | 101.8 (9.67) |
| DBP (mmHg) | 63.6 (6.52) | 61.7 (5.21) | 68.9 (4.44) | 74.1 (5.58) | 63.8 (6.46) | 63.4 (6.58) | |
| SBP, z-score | 0.40 (0.80) | 0.15 (0.60) | 1.03 (0.54) | 1.87 (0.64) | 0.46 (0.82) | 0.36 (0.78) | |
| DBP, z-score | 0.64 (0.59) | 0.46 (0.45) | 1.20 (0.38) | 1.56 (0.57) | 0.66 (0.59) | 0.62 (0.59) | |
| PUFA, Mean (SD), % wt/wt2 | 18:2n-6, LA | 17.8 (1.96) | 17.9 (1.94) | 17.6 (1.94) | 17.9 (2.17) | 18.0 (1.99) | 17.7 (1.93) |
| 18:3n-6, GLA | 0.23 (0.09) | 0.23 (0.09) | 0.22 (0.08) | 0.23 (0.09) | 0.22 (0.09) | 0.23 (0.09) | |
| 20:3n-6, DGLA | 1.23 (0.26) | 1.23 (0.27) | 1.20 (0.24) | 1.22 (0.28) | 1.20 (0.26) | 1.25 (0.27) | |
| 20:4n-6, ARA | 7.47 (1.31) | 7.46 (1.30) | 7.57 (1.29) | 7.40 (1.40) | 7.38 (1.34) | 7.55 (1.27) | |
| 18:3n-3, ALA | 0.20 (0.09) | 0.20 (0.09) | 0.19 (0.09) | 0.21 (0.09) | 0.20 (0.09) | 0.20 (0.08) | |
| 20:5n-3, EPA | 0.28 (0.12) | 0.27 (0.12) | 0.27 (0.11) | 0.30 (0.13) | 0.28 (0.13) | 0.27 (0.11) | |
| 22:6n-3, DHA | 1.23 (0.44) | 1.23 (0.44) | 1.23 (0.40) | 1.24 (0.44) | 1.21 (0.44) | 1.26 (0.44) | |
| SFA, Mean (SD), % wt/wt | sum | 44.4 (1.89) | 44.4 (1.92) | 44.5 (1.77) | 44.3 (1.87) | 44.4 (1.96) | 44.5 (1.83) |
| MUFA, Mean (SD), % wt/wt | sum | 25.2 (2.35) | 25.2 (2.32) | 25.2 (2.49) | 25.2 (2.48) | 25.3 (2.42) | 25.1 (2.29) |
| Family history of hyperten-sion, n (%) | no | 1047 (82.6) | 848 (81.0) | 117 (11.2) | 82 (7.8) | 517 (49.4) | 530 (50.6) |
| yes | 220 (17.4) | 160 (72.7) | 31 (14.1) | 29 (13.2) | 106 (48.2) | 114 (51.8) | |
| ISCED level, n (%) | Level 0, 1, 2 | 148 (11.7) | 117 (79.1) | 17 (11.5) | 14 (9.5) | 69 (46.6) | 79 (53.4) |
| Level 3, 4 | 664 (52.4) | 541 (81.5) | 70 (10.5) | 53 (8.0) | 320 (48.2) | 344 (51.8) | |
| Level 5, 6 | 455 (35.9) | 350 (76.9) | 61 (13.4) | 44 (9.7) | 234 (51.4) | 221 (48.6) | |
| Height, Mean (SD) | cm | 119.2 (12.5) | 119.4 (11.8) | 116.8 (13.8) | 120.9 (15.5) | 118.7 (12.1) | 119.7 (12.7) |
| BMI, Mean (SD) | kg/m2 | 17.9 (3.25) | 17.6 (3.08) | 18.0 (3.29) | 20.2 (3.74) | 17.7 (3.08) | 18.0 (3.40) |
| BMI, Mean (SD)2 | z-score | 0.98 (1.30) | 0.90 (1.29) | 0.97 (1.34) | 1.75 (1.15) | 0.96 (1.23) | 1.00 (1.38) |
| BMI category, n (%)3 | Thin | 76 (6.0) | 64 (84.2) | 10 (13.2) | 2 (2.6) | 31 (40.8) | 45 (59.2) |
| Normal weight | 659 (52.0) | 551 (83.6) | 73 (11.1) | 35 (5.3) | 330 (50.1) | 329 (49.9) | |
| Overweight | 281 (22.2) | 215 (76.5) | 36 (12.8) | 30 (10.7) | 142 (50.5) | 139 (49.5) | |
| Obese | 251 (19.8) | 178 (70.9) | 29 (11.6) | 44 (17.5) | 120 (47.8) | 131 (52.2) | |
| Birth weight, Mean (SD) | g | 3373 (545) | 3376 (548) | 3367 (571) | 3352 (471) | 3303 (532) | 3440 (548) |
| Parental smoking, n (%)2 | Never smoker | 336 (26.5) | 272 (81.0) | 39 (11.6) | 25 (7.4) | 174 (51.8) | 162 (48.2) |
| Current smoker | 181 (14.3) | 142 (78.5) | 27 (14.9) | 12 (6.6) | 91 (50.3) | 90 (49.7) | |
| Ex-smoker | 142 (11.2) | 120 (84.5) | 14 (9.9) | 8 (5.6) | 60 (42.3) | 82 (57.7) | |
| Missing information | 608 (48.0) | 474 (78) | 68 (11.2) | 66 (10.9) | 298 (49.0) | 310 (51.0) | |
| Consumption frequency of processed food, Mean (SD) | times per week | 5.4 (4.9) | 5.3 (4.9) | 5.9 (5.5) | 5.8 (4.4) | 5.2 (4.6) | 5.6 (5.3) |
| Time spent with audiovisual media, Mean (SD) | hours per week | 12.1 (7.9) | 12.1 (8.0) | 12.2 (7.5) | 12.4 (6.8) | 10.8 (6.5) | 13.4 (8.9) |
1National Institutes of Health 2005
2As only selected PUFA are shown, the sum of SFA, MUFA and PUFA does not sum up to 100%
3Cole & Lobstein 2012
ALA, alpha-linolenic acid; ARA, arachidonic acid; BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; DGLA, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; GLA, gamma-linolenic acid; ISCED, International Standard Classification of Education; LA, linoleic acid; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SD, standard deviation; SFA, saturated fatty acids