Pressor reactivity in American Samoan children: comparisons with Mainland American children.

In this investigation, 70 children from American Samoa participated in a standardized assessment of blood pressure and heart rate reactivity during a television video game. Data from Samoan children were compared with previously collected data from children (both black and white) residing in the continental United States. Samoan and black children demonstrated similar blood pressure reactivity (both absolute and delta values; P > .05); Samoans and blacks demonstrated greater blood pressure reactivity than whites (P < .05). Ethnic differences in heart rate reactivity were not as pronounced. After we adjusted reactivity values for ethnic differences in age, Quetelet index, and resting measurements, Samoans' reactivity continued to be more similar to the reactivity of blacks than that of whites. Results provide further evidence of ethnic differences in children's pressor reactivity; these differences may be related to differences in hypertension in adulthood.