Studies of blood pressures in children, ages 5-14 years, in a total biracial community: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Abstract

SUMMARY Blood pressure, height, weight, maturation, triceps skinfold thickness, serum lipids, and hemoglobin were measured as risk factors for coronary artery disease in 3,524 children (93% of the eligible population) in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Nine blood pressures were taken on each child by trained observers with mercury sphygmomanometers (Baumanoneter) and Physomerics automatic recorders in a rigid randomized design in a relaxed atmosphere with other children present. The pressures observed were low compared to reported HYPERTENSION IN ITS EARLY STAGES is poorly understood. Perhaps this is due partly to our limited understanding of the disease and its subclinical manifestations, and to the scanty information concerning its timecourse changes. Furthermore, since there is a lack of satisfactory criteria for diagnosis, the true prevalence of hypertension in children remains to be established. For example, in contrast to the clinical and anatomic manifestations in adults, similar effects and early damage to tissue are undetectable in children. Simply, the early natural history of hypertension, the evolution from youth, needs to be investigated.The measurement of blood pressure in a young age segment of a total geographic American community offers the opportunity of delineating normative values specific for age, race, and sex and serves as a background for observing early hypertension in a free-living population. At the same time, such a study offers the opportunity of describing other characteristics that act as determinants of blood pressure. This study describes detailed blood pressure measurements in a biracial population of children in a southern, semi-rural community. Materials and Methods PopulationThe population consisted of all school children, ages 5 through 14, residing in Ward 4 of Washington Parish, Louisiana, including the town of Bogalusa. Ninety-seven percent of the black children and 91% of the white children participated in the study, a total of 3,524 children. Of the study population 37% were black and 63% were white. The results for 15-year-old children are included in the graphs of the present paper for illustrative purposes, but were not included in the calculations because of incomplete population coverage. InstrumentsDuring the school year 1973-1974, indirect blood pressures were obtained on the children by the mercury sphygmomanometer (Baumanometer) and by the Physiometrics automatic blood pressure recorder. The automatic instrument is an electronic infrasonic device that records on a paper disc rotated by an aneroid manometer in open communication with an oversized rubber cuff bladder entirely encircling the upper arm. Selection of the bladder sizes for the Baumanometer cuff was based on arm measurement criteria recommended by Karvonen et al.,1 Simpson et al.,2 and King,3 but with the restrictions that commonly available bladders were used and that shorter arms require a narrower cuff in order to leave room for the stethoscope at the elbow skin crease (see Appendix). Observer TrainingAll blo...

Studies of blood pressure in hyperlipidemic school children.

“…However, race was a significant explanatory variable for both systolic (F = 15.4, p < 0.0001) and diastolic (F = 11.1, p < 0.0009) BP when random and hyperlipidemic adult recall groups were combined. 1 Since environment, geography, and race have considerable direct and interactive effects on BP, 1~7 the finding of pediatric black-white BP differences in Bogalusa, 4 " 6 but not in Dayton, Ohio, 3 the Princeton School study, 1 or Bourbon County, Kentucky, 7 may reflect in part the differing environments and their effects on BP.…”

Cumulative Incidence of Hypertension by 55 Years of Age in Blacks and Whites: The CARDIA Study

“…There is evidence that blacks have higher blood pressure (BP) levels and increased risk for hypertension compared with whites beginning in childhood 1, 2, 3. Cross‐sectional studies using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) have consistently reported a higher prevalence of hypertension in blacks compared with whites beginning at a young age 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.…”

Hipertensão Em Estudantes Da Rede Pública De Vitória/Es: Influência Do Sobrepeso E Obesidade

“…Estudos observacionais correlacionam os índices peso-estatura com a pressão arterial 26,27 . Os autores sugerem que adiposidade seja um fator determinante desses níveis por meio do aumento percentual de obesidade e de maior tendência à distribuição de adiposidade central.…”

“…Os autores sugerem que adiposidade seja um fator determinante desses níveis por meio do aumento percentual de obesidade e de maior tendência à distribuição de adiposidade central. Desta forma, a hipertensão arterial é uma morbidade que apresenta estreita ligação com o sobrepeso e obesidade 26,27 . No entanto, os trabalhos atuais que analisam estes últimos e suas relações com a hipertensão arterial em crianças e adolescentes ainda são escassos no Brasil.…”