Prevalence of Hypertension in School Going Children of Ajmer, Rajasthan

Abstract

Background: Early diagnosis of hypertension in childhood is an important strategy in its control and hypertension may begin in childhood, perhaps even in infancy. Material and Method: A Cross-sectional study was carried out over a period from January 2016 to October 2016 conducted among total 1498 school going children of Ajmer belonging to the age group of 8 to 18 years of both genders. Result: Overall 14.82% children had elevated blood pressure. Prevalence of hypertension was higher in children of upper ages (>11 years) as compare to children of lower ages (<12 years). The difference was statistically significant. Almost equal percentage of children had elevated blood pressure in either gender. Positive family history was more often present in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive children (70.11%, 76.19% respectively) as compared to normotensive children (56.92%). Conclusion: Awareness of hypertension was very low. Periodic measurements should be done in schools to identify the high risk group of children and adolescents who can develop hypertension.