Blood pressure readings in rural Black South African children--a pointer to future adult hypertension?

The blood pressures of 394 rural Black South African children were recorded and compared with existing records on the blood pressures of Black and White American children. It was found that the blood pressures of these rural Blacks were not significantly different from those of the American Negroes, but that they were higher than those of the White children. If blood pressure readings in the children of a population are a good predictor of future hypertension among the adults of that population, then the rural South African Black population will increasingly suffer from hypertensive disease.