title: [Prevalence of hypertension in school age children and its association with obesity].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension in children is a frequently overlooked problem that is an important cardiovascular risk factor.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of hypertension among school age children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study of 2980 children aged 10 ± 2 years (48% females) from 10 schools of middle and lower class in Metropolitan Santiago. Blood pressure (BP) was measured in the sitting position on three occasions after a rest period, using a mercury sphygmomanometer with appropriate cuff arm diameter, averaging the results of the measurements. Systolic and diastolic hypertension were defined as blood pressure values over 95 percentile for age, sex and height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of hypertension was 12.2% in women and 15% in men (p < 0.05). According to nutritional status, the prevalence was 6.7, 8.9,13.6 and 26% in underweight, eutrophic, overweight and obese children, respectively (p < 0.01). Compared with normal weight children, the risk of being hypertensive for overweight children was 1.6 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.2-2.3) and for obese children was 3.6 (95% CI 2.8-4.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The studied children had a high prevalence of hypertension, that was directly related to a higher body mass index.
authors: División de Pediatría, Unidad de Endocrinología, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors: Rodrigo
authors: R
authors: Bancalari
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Díaz
authors: Alejandro
authors: A
authors: Martínez-Aguayo
authors: Marlene
authors: M
authors: Aglony
authors: Juanita
authors: J
authors: Zamorano
authors: Verónica
authors: V
authors: Cerda
authors: Manuel
authors: M
authors: Fernández
authors: Flabia
authors: F
authors: Garbin
authors: Gabriel
authors: G
authors: Cavada
authors: María
authors: M
authors: Valenzuela
authors: Hernán
authors: H
authors: García
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors