OBJECTIVEHypertension is one of the most common disorders in adults. Although it may be already present in children and adolescents, it does not often have clinical pictures. There is a lack of data on the blood pressure in children in Beijing area. This study was conducted to investigate the present situation of blood pressure of children and adolescents in Beijing area.

METHODSChildren and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years in 4 urban and 3 rural areas of Beijing were involved in the study at random. Blood pressure (BP) was measured three times with the use of mercury sphygmomanometery, and the means of the last two BP value were recorded. Systolic BP (SBP) was determined by the first Korotkoff sound, and diastolic BP (DBP) by the fourth Korotkoff sound.

RESULTSAltogether, 20 780 (99.6%) individuals with complete records were studied, including 10 582 from urban and 10 198 from rural areas; 10 398 were males and 10 382 were females. BP of boys was higher than that of girls [SBP: (106 +/- 12) mm Hg vs. (101 +/- 11) mm Hg, u = 27.14, P < 0.01; DBP: (67 +/- 9) mm Hg vs. (65 +/- 8) mm Hg, u = 14.14, P < 0.01]. BP of both boys and girls increased with age. However, SBP had a larger magnitude of increase than that of DBP. Both SBP and DBP of urban children were lower than those of rural children [SBP: (103 +/- 12) mm Hg vs. (104 +/- 12) mm Hg, u = 2.55, P < 0.05; DBP: (66 +/- 8) mm Hg vs. (67 +/- 9) mm Hg, u = 6.73, P < 0.01]. There was a positive correlation between BP and age, height, weight and BMI. SBP had a stronger relationship with each variable than DBP did. Among children aged 6 - 18 years, about 8.1% were found to have hypertension according to the criteria of blood pressure of children and adolescents by age and by gender of 1987 in Beijing.

CONCLUSIONSThe present study provided with the current information and characteristics of blood pressure of children and adolescents in Beijing area. The blood pressure was correlated with sex, age, body height, body weight and BMI of children and adolescents.