Dietary patterns and their association with elevated blood pressure among children and adolescents in Ibadan, Southwest, Nigeria

Dietary intake is a key contributing factor to the overall well-being of an individual. Intake of foods high in fat, sodium, and sugar predisposes to an elevated risk of early-onset high blood pressure among children and adolescents. Identifying dietary patterns associated with elevated blood pressure is important for early detection of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. This study assessed the dietary patterns and their association with elevated blood pressure among children and adolescents in Ibadan, Southwest, Nigeria. This descriptive cross-sectional study enrolled 335 children and adolescents aged 8–14 years using a multi-stage sampling technique. IBM SPSS version 27 and R Studio were used for statistical analysis. Dietary patterns were assessed using a 47-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and derived via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation and interpretation of the scree plot. Blood pressure was classified according to the 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics guideline using age-, sex-, and height-specific thresholds. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage), simple linear regression, and binary logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusting for age and sex. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Principal Component Analysis identified three dietary patterns: traditional/plant-based (26.0%), sweetened beverage (9.9%), and protein/Westernized (9.1%) dietary patterns, accounting for a cumulative variance of 45.0%. Linear regression showed no significant association between dietary pattern scores and systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP), although traditional/plant-based scores showed a positive but non-significant relationship with DBP (β = 0.105, 95% CI: −0.03–2.66, p = 0.056). In binary logistic regression, traditional/plant-based scores demonstrated higher but non-significant odds of elevated DBP (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 0.97–1.55, p = 0.085), while sweetened beverage and protein/Westernized scores were not significantly associated with elevated SBP or DBP. Three dietary patterns were identified among children and adolescents in Ibadan, with no significant associations observed between dietary pattern scores and blood pressure outcomes (SBP and DBP). These findings highlight the complexity of blood pressure regulation in young populations and underscore the need for longitudinal studies incorporating broader cardiometabolic and lifestyle assessments to better understand dietary influences on cardiovascular risk among Nigerian children and adolescents.