%0 Journal Article
%T High blood pressure in school children: prevalence and risk factors
%A Ximena Urrutia-Rojas
%A Christie U Egbuchunam
%A Sejong Bae
%A John Menchaca
%A Manuel Bayona
%A Patrick A Rivers
%A Karan P Singh
%J BMC Pediatrics
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2431-6-32
%X Elementary school children (n = 1,066) were examined. Associations between HBP, body mass index (BMI), gender, ethnicity, and acanthosis nigricans (AN) were investigated using a school based cross-sectional study. Blood pressure was measured and the 95th percentile was used to determine HBP. Comparisons between children with and without HBP were utilized. The crude and multiple logistic regression adjusted odds ratios were used as measures of association.Females, Hispanics, overweight children, and children with AN had an increased likelihood of HBP. Overweight children (BMI ¡Ý 85th percentile) and those with AN were at least twice as likely to present with HBP after controlling for confounding factors.Twenty one percent of school children had HBP, especially the prevalence was higher among the overweight and Hispanic group. The association identified here can be used as independent markers for increased likelihood of HBP in children.In 2002, the National Center for Health Statistics revealed that the prevalence of hypertension was 28.7% among Americans 20¨C74 years of age; and that 84.9% of women and 72.7% of men 75 years of age and older have hypertension[1]. The prevalence of hypertension in African Americans 20 years of age and older, was 40.9% and 37.8% for females and males, respectively. In Caucasians of the same age group, the prevalence was 24.5% for females and 28.8% for males. In Hispanics of this same age group, the prevalence of hypertension was 25% for females and 30.6% for males[1]. Over the past two decades, studies have shown that "essential" hypertension (i.e., hypertension of unknown etiology), can be found among children and adolescents. These particular blood pressure (BP) patterns show a strong correlation to adulthood hypertension [2-5]. According to the recommendations of the 1996 task force report on BP in children and adolescents, BP measurements should be incorporated into the routine pediatric examination of children three years of age and
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/6/32