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Background and Aim: Recently, National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey-1 data analysis found short sleep duration as a risk factor for hypertension in the U.S. population. However, since ethnic differences exist in the aetiopathogenesis of diseases, the current study was undertaken to study the effect of sleep duration on the blood pressure profile of Gujarati Indian adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 489 Gujarati Indian adolescents of age group 16-19 years studying in school and colleges in the local population. The participants were assessed for their sleep duration, physical activity status, body composition, blood pressure profile and cardiovascular reactivity. The sleep duration was reported by the subjects as the number of hours they slept on most of the nights in a week over the last one year. The observations of the study were then analyzed after grouping them into: 1) Adequate Sleep Duration at Night, ASDN (≥ 7 hrs) and 2) Inadequate Sleep Duration at Night, ISDN (< 7 hrs) groups. Student′s unpaired t-test was used to study if any significant difference (P< 0.05) existed between the groups. Results: No significant difference was found in Systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, Pulse pressure and Mean arterial pressure between the ASDN group and the ISDN group. Physical activity status also did not differ between the two groups. However, adolescents of ISDN group showed a significantly higher level of adiposity and cardiovascular reactivity as compared to adolescents of ASDN group. Conclusion: Although short sleep duration is associated with a higher level of adiposity and cardiovascular reactivity in Gujarati Indian adolescents, it does not affect the resting blood pressure profile of these adolescents. However, longitudinal studies would be required to observe if the changes in adiposity and cardiovascular reactivity affect these adolescents in later life.

Background and Aim: The current study was conducted to determine the effect of adiposity on vascular distensibility in Gujarati Indian adolescents as research indicating the pathogenesis of hypertension among overweight and/or obese Indian adolescents is scant and ethnic differences exist in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 488 Gujarati Indian adolescents of 16-19 years age group. Adiposity was assessed in terms of BMI, Body Fat %, Fat Mass, Fat Mass Index and Waist Circumference. Arterial blood pressure was recorded and pulse pressure (PP) was calculated using the standard equation based on the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Pearson′s correlation coefficient was determined to find the association between the markers of adiposity and SBP, DBP and PP. Result: A significant positive correlationship was found between adiposity and PP in boys. However, no significant correlationship was found between adiposity and PP in girls. Conclusion: An increase in total as well as visceral adiposity is probably associated with a decrease in vascular distensibility in the Gujarati Indian adolescent boys but not in girls, thus indicating a protective role of female sex hormone estrogen which has been shown earlier to protect the vasculature from atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction which occurs with increase in adiposity.

Background and Aim: Recent studies on various populations indicate that lack of sleep is one of the potential risk factors predisposing the youth to obesity. Since there is a significant rise in obesity among Indian youth and because research indicating the role of sleep in development of obesity among Indian population is scant, the current study was undertaken to assess the effect of sleep duration on adiposity among Gujarati Indian adolescents. Materials and Methods: A randomized cross-sectional study was done on 489 voluntarily participating Indian adolescents in the age group of 16-19 years. Participants were grouped into two categories 1). Adequate Sleep Duration at Night (more than seven hours, ASDN) and 2) Inadequate Sleep Duration at Night (less than seven hours, IASDN) as reported by the participants. The participants were later assessed for adiposity in terms of BMI, BF % , FM, FMI and waist circumference, meal frequency per day and physical activity status. Results: In both boys as well as girls, the BMI, BF%, FM and FMI were significantly lower in the ASDN group than the IASDN group. However, there was an insignificant difference in the meal frequency and physical activity status between the ASDN and IASDN group. Conclusion : Inadequate sleep duration increases adiposity among Gujarati Indian adolescents but further studies are required to find out the mechanisms through which sleep affects adiposity in this population.