Principal Investigator: Prof R Kruger

The Arterial Stiffness in Offspring Study (ASOS) is a cross-sectional, observational study that investigates the trends of elevated blood pressure, arterial stiffness and body composition in young school children between the ages 6 and 8 years. Our research indicated that the black population is more burdened with high blood pressure and arterial stiffness at an earlier age compared to the white population. This raised the question about the age at which changes in the cardiovascular system starts in black compared to white people. We chose 6 to 8 year old boys specifically since we have observed that differences in 10 to 15 year old black and white children are already present. Therefore, the earlier we can detect differences, the sooner interventions could be developed to curb this disease burden among the black South African population.

Recent publications:

• Ethnic differences regarding arterial stiffness of 6-8 year old black and white boys. Journal of Hypertension, 2017; 35(5):960-967
• Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances relate to arterial stiffness and blood pressure in 6 to 8-year-old boys stratified by maternal risk. Free Radical Research, 2018.

The ASOS project is funded by the South African Sugar Association (SASA), National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Extramural Research Unit for Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease.