Family socioeconomic factors are negatively associated with blood pressure in European boys, but not girls, and Brazilian adolescents: Results from two observational studies

Figures & data

Table I. Characteristics of the samples from the HELENA and BRACAH studies.

Variables	Boys		Girls
	HELENA (n = 1580) Mean or % (95% CI)	BRACAH (n = 451) Mean or % (95% CI)	HELENA (n = 1728) Mean or % (95% CI)	BRACAH (n = 540) Mean or % (95% CI)
Age (years)	14.8 (14.7, 14.9)*	16.4 (16.3, 16.5)*	14.7 (14.6, 14.8)*	16.2 (16.2, 16.3)*
Familial socioeconomic factors
Education father
Lower education	6.8 (5.5, 8.2)	6.4 (4.1, 8.7)	8.1 (6.7, 9.5)	8.1 (5.7, 10.4)
Lower secondary education	29.6 (27.1, 32.0)	25.2 (− 21.1, 29.3)	29.5 (27.5, 32.2)	26.7 (22.9, 30.5)
Higher secondary education	27.6 (25.2, 30.0)	47.0 (42.2, 51.7)	27.3 (25.1, 29.7)	45.5 (41.2, 49.8)
University degree	36.0 (33.4, 38.6)	21.3 (17.5, 25.2)	34.7 (32.2, 37.2)	19.8 (16.3, 23.2)
Education mother
Lower education	7.5 (6.1, 8.9)	6.4 (4.1, 8.7)	8.0 (6.6, 9.4)	8.4 (6.1, 10.8)
Lower secondary education	26.3 (23.9, 28.7)	25.0 (20.9, 29.1)	24.9 (22.7, 27.2)	24.2 (20.5, 27.9)
Higher secondary education	31.2 (28.7, 33.7)	42.7 (38.0, 47.3)	31.8 (29.4, 34.2)	43.0 (38.7, 47.3)
University degree	35.0 (32.5, 37.6)	25.9 (21.8, 30.0)	35.2 (32.8, 37.7)	24.4 (20.7, 28.1)
Socioeconomic status
High	33.5 (31.0, 36.1)*	14.4 (11.1, 17.8)*	31.0 (28.6, 33.4)*	14.2 (11.2, 17.2)*
Medium	56.5 (53.9, 59.2)*	81.7 (78.0, 85.3)*	56.1 (53.5, 58.7)*	78.5 (75.0, 82.0)*
Low	10.0 (8.3, 11.6)*	3.9 (2.1, 5.7)*	12.9 (11.1, 14.6)*	7.3 (5.1, 9.5)*
SBP (mmHg)	126.4 (125.5, 127.1)*	119.6 (118.4, 120.9)*	117.3 (116.7, 117.9)*	107.0 (106.0, 108.0)*
DBP (mmHg)	68.5 (68.0, 69.0)	69.0 (68.1, 69.9)	69.3 (68.8, 69.8)	67.1 (66.2, 68.0)
Physical activity by questionnaire
< 60 min/day MVPA	14.4 (12.5, 16.3)*	68.6 (64.2, 72.9)*	16.0 (14.1, 17.9)*	68.9 (64.9, 72.9)*
≥ 60 min/day MVPA	85.6 (83.7, 87.5)*	31.4 (27.1, 35.8)*	84.0 (82.1, 85.9)*	31.1 (27.1, 35.1)*
Sedentary behavior by questionnaire^a
> 4 h/day	38.8 (36.2, 41.5)*	75.0 (70.9, 79.1)*	20.4 (18.3, 22.5)*	84.5 (81.3, 87.6)*
2–4 h/day	39.1 (36.4, 41.7)*	20.6 (16.8, 24.4)*	36.3 (33.8, 38.8)*	12.5 (9.6, 15.3)*
< 2 h/day	22.1 (19.9, 24.4)*	4.4 (2.4, 6.3)*	43.3 (40.7, 45.8)*	3.1 (1.6, 4.6)*
Regular smoking^b
Yes	12.2 (10.5, 14.0)*	6.4 (4.1, 8.7)*	12.8 (11.1, 14.5)*	5.2 (3.3, 7.1)*
No	87.8 (86.0, 89.5)*	93.6 (91.3, 95.9)*	87.2 (85.5, 88.9)*	94.8 (92.3, 96.7)*
WC (cm)	74.4 (73.9, 74.9)	80.4 (79.5, 81.4)	70.2 (69.8, 70.6)	77.3 (76.5, 78.1)
BMI (kg/m^2)	21.5 (21.3, 21.7)	21.8 (21.5, 22.2)	21.3 (21.1, 21.5)	21.2 (21.0, 21.6)

HELENA, Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence; BRACAH, Brazilian Cardiovascular Adolescent Health Study; CI, confidence interval; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; MVPA, moderate to vigorous physical activity; WC, waist circumference; BMI, body mass index.

^aTelevision watching, internet and video games.

^bMore than one cigarette per day in the past month.

*Significant differences between HELENA and BRACAH (p < 0.05). For the ordinal variables (socioeconomic status and sedentary behavior) data are provided for the trend.

Figure 1. Proportion of blood pressure levels explained by familial social factors for (A) boys and (B) girls. HELENA, Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence; BRACAH, Brazilian Cardiovascular Adolescent Health Study.