Energy Dense Salty Food Consumption Frequency Is Associated with Diastolic Hypertension in Spanish Children

Pérez Gimeno, GloriaRupérez, Azahara I.Vázquez Cobela, RocíoHerráiz Gastesi, GonzaloGil Campos, MercedesAguilera, Concepción M.Moreno, Luis A.Leis Trabazo, María RosauraBueno Lozano, Gloria2020-10-302020-10-302020Pérez-Gimeno, G.; Rupérez, A.I.; Vázquez-Cobela, R.; Herráiz-Gastesi, G.; Gil-Campos, M.; Aguilera, C.M.; Moreno, L.A.; Leis Trabazo, M.R.; Bueno-Lozano, G. Energy Dense Salty Food Consumption Frequency Is Associated with Diastolic Hypertension in Spanish Children. Nutrients 2020, 12, 1027http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23506High blood pressure (BP) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and sodium consumption is related to high BP. Moreover, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) influence BP. For this reason, we investigated whether: 1) children with risk of elevated BP had a higher consumption frequency (CF) of energy-dense salty foods (EDSF), high-sugary foods (HSF) and SSB or a low DASH score; and 2) children with a higher CF of EDSF showed a worse anthropometric and metabolic profile. Anthropometry, BP and general biochemical parameters were measured in 687 Spanish children (5–16 years) with normal or excess weight. A food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate EDSF, HSF and SSB consumption, and modified DASH score. Results showed that sex and pubertal stage influenced modified DASH score. Diastolic hypertension was associated to higher CF of EDSF in the whole sample and to higher CF of SSB in pubertal children, both independently of nutritional status. In addition, CF of EDSF was positively associated with CF of HSF and SSB and inversely associated with modified DASH score. Targeted policies and intervention programs, specific for different age ranges, should be established that aim to reduce salt consumption from snacks and processed foods, which could reduce HSF and SSB consumption as welleng© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Atribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Consumption frequencyDietary approach stop hypertensionEnergy-dense salty foodHypertensionPubertal stageSugar-sweetened beveragesEnergy Dense Salty Food Consumption Frequency Is Associated with Diastolic Hypertension in Spanish Childrenjournal article10.3390/nu120410272072-6643open access