title: Aerobic fitness and the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure in adolescents.
abstract: We examined the effects of aerobic fitness and race on the diurnal rhythm of blood pressure of 175 healthy adolescents who performed a cycle ergometer maximal exercise test while oxygen consumption was measured. A median split of maximum oxygen consumption for boys and girls separately classified them as either "more-fit" or "less-fit" subjects. Ambulatory blood pressure recordings were also performed, and the data were analyzed for means while subjects were awake and asleep. Less-fit black boys had higher systolic pressures than more-fit black boys while awake (124 vs. 115 mm Hg; p less than 0.009) and asleep (117 vs. 108; p less than 0.001). Less-fit black boys also had higher systolic pressures than less-fit white boys while awake (114; p less than 0.002) and asleep (105; p less than 0.001), and they had higher systolic pressures than more-fit white boys while asleep (105; p less than 0.01). Less-fit black girls had higher systolic pressures than more-fit black girls while awake (116 vs. 109; p less than 0.004) and asleep (109 vs. 100; p less than 0.001). Less-fit black girls also had higher diastolic pressures than more-fit black girls while awake (71 vs. 66; p less than 0.002) and asleep (66 vs. 61; p less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38103.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Harshfield
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Dupaul
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Christman
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Willey
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Somes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001824:Body Constitution; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003971:Diastole; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013599:Systole