Childhood
hypertension has become an important public health issue. This study explored a novel
indicator, namely, childhood
lipid accumulation product (CLAP), which is associated with
hypertension among children and adolescents. A total of 683 children and adolescents aged 8-15 years were measured for
body weight, height, waist circumference (WC), abdominal skinfold thickness (AST),
triacylglycerol (TG), blood pressure, dietary behaviors, and physical activity time. The novel childhood
lipid accumulation product (CLAP) was the product of WC, AST, and TG (CLAP = WC (cm) × AST (mm) × TG (mmol/L)). The logarithmic CLAP (LnCLAP), height, weight, WC, WHtR, BMI, AST, and TG were standardized for sex and age using the z-score method (standardized variables: SLnCLAP, Sheight, Sweight, SWC, SWHtR, SBMI, SAST, and STG). The results showed that the overall prevalence of
hypertension was 11.6% (13.1% in boys and 9.7% in girls). SLnCLAP ≥ 1, Sweight ≥ 1, SWC ≥ 1, SWHtR ≥ 1, SBMI ≥ 1, SAST ≥ 1, and STG ≥ 1 increased the statistical risk of childhood
hypertension (odds ratio values (95% CI) were 3.70 (2.22-6.16), 2.58 (1.50-4.43), 3.08 (1.84-5.15), 2.33 (1.38-3.93), 2.96 (1.72-5.29), 2.38 (1.41-4.70), and 2.40 (1.38-4.19), respectively). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for CLAP was higher than that for weight, WC, WHtR, BMI, AST, and TG in the prediction of
hypertension. In conclusion, this study showed that CLAP is a novel
indicator associated with
hypertension in children and adolescents and can more effectively predict childhood
hypertension than weight, WC, WHtR, BMI, AST, and TG can.