Department of Home Science, Faculty of Agricultureal Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.
Eur J Public Health. 2012 Jun;22(3):369-73. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr036. Epub 2011 Apr 7.
Hypertension (potential risk for cardiovascular diseases) is a major health problem in developed and developing countries affecting approximately one billion individuals worldwide. Many of the risk factors associated with development of hypertension are preventable. Early identification of children at risk for hypertension is important to prevent serious complications. The present study aimed at determining the percentile of systolic blood and diastolic blood pressure and to investigate distribution of blood pressure and its association with anthropometric variables.
A cross-sectional study among 701 school children (in the age group of 12-16 years), selected by stratified random sampling was conducted in Aligarh. Personal data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire. Blood pressure, weight and height were measured through standardized techniques and quetelet index was used to determine BMI. The distributions of blood pressure by anthropometric characteristics were examined. Mean, standard deviation, chi square and correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 12 software. High blood pressure was defined as systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure over the 95th percentile.
Out of 363 boys, 34 (9.36%) and out of 338 girls, 32 (9.46%) had hypertension with overall prevalence of 66 (9.4%) children. Mean systolic blood and diastolic blood pressure were higher as the range of weight, height and BMI increased and blood pressure of children showed positive correlation with anthropometrics characteristics.
It is therefore recommended that the children must be screened regularly for blood pressure to detect the prevalence so that remedial measure may be initiated as early as possible.
高血压（心血管疾病的潜在风险）是发达国家和发展中国家的一个主要健康问题，全球约有 10 亿人受到影响。许多与高血压发展相关的风险因素是可以预防的。早期发现有高血压风险的儿童对于预防严重并发症非常重要。本研究旨在确定收缩压和舒张压的百分位数，并调查血压的分布及其与人体测量学变量的关系。
在阿格拉进行了一项横断面研究，共纳入 701 名年龄在 12-16 岁之间的学生，采用分层随机抽样法选择。通过预测试问卷收集个人数据。通过标准化技术测量血压、体重和身高，并使用奎特利指数确定 BMI。检查了血压与人体测量学特征的分布。使用 SPSS 12 软件进行统计分析，采用均值、标准差、卡方和相关系数。高血压定义为收缩压和/或舒张压超过第 95 百分位数。
363 名男孩中有 34 名（9.36%），338 名女孩中有 32 名（9.46%）患有高血压，总患病率为 66 名（9.4%）儿童。随着体重、身高和 BMI 的增加，平均收缩压和舒张压也随之升高，儿童血压与人体测量学特征呈正相关。
因此，建议定期对儿童进行血压筛查，以检测高血压的患病率，以便尽早采取补救措施。
