Birth weight influences blood pressure values and variability in children and adolescents

The objective of the present study was to assess the relationships between birth weight and the values and variability of ambulatory blood pressure. Six hundred thirty healthy children (369 girls) age 4 to 18 years (mean, 9.9 years) born at term after a normotensive pregnancy were included. The subjects were divided into 5 groups according to birth weight. For each subject, a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed according to the protocol designed. Average and variability (estimated as the standard deviation) of ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate were calculated separately for 24-hour, daytime, and nighttime periods. When values were adjusted for gender, current age, weight, and height, children with the lowest birth weights had the highest ambulatory blood pressure values and variability, whereas no differences in heart rate were observed. Multiple regression analysis showed that although current weight was the strongest predictor for 24-hour systolic blood pressure (P<0.001), there was also an independent and significant inverse relationship for birth weight (P<0.002) after controlling for gender, current age, and height. Likewise, birth weight was independently and inversely correlated with 24-hour systolic blood pressure variability (P<0.03). In conclusion, children who had lower birth weights tended to have not only the highest blood pressure values but also the highest blood pressure variability, independent of the increases in ambulatory blood pressure values. Knowing, that high blood pressure variability is at least partially independent of blood pressure values, the importance of this variability on further blood pressure rises and/or on vascular damage later in life needs to be assessed in future studies.