Mild stunting is associated with higher blood pressure in overweight adolescents.

Background: Studies have shown that pre/postnatal undernutrition leads to higher risk of non communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity in adulthood.

Objective: To determine whether overweight adolescents with mild stunting [height-for-age Z scores (HAZ) in the range <-1 to ≥ -2] have higher blood pressure than overweight individuals with normal stature (HAZ ≥ -1).

Methods: Participants were classified as mildly stunted or of normal stature, and further stratified according to body mass index-for-age percentiles as overweight, normal or underweight.