title: A survey of blood pressure in Lebanese children and adolescence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Blood pressure varies between populations due to ethnic and environmental factors. Therefore, normal blood pressure values should be determined for different populations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this survey was to produce blood pressure nomograms for Lebanese children in order to establish distribution curves of blood pressure by age and sex.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a survey of blood pressure in 5710 Lebanese schoolchildren aged 5 to 15 years (2918 boys and 2792 girls), and studied the distribution of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in these children and adolescents. Blood pressure was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer using a standardized technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure had a positive correlation with weight, height, age, and body mass index (r= 0.648, 0.643, 0.582, and 0.44, respectively) (P < .001). There was no significant difference in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure in boys compared to girls of corresponding ages. However, the average annual increase in systolic blood pressure was 2.86 mm Hg in boys and 2.63 mm Hg in girls, whereas the annual increase in diastolic blood pressure was 1.72 mm Hg in boys and 1.48 mm Hg in girls. The prevalence of high and high-normal blood pressure at the upper limit of normal (between the 90(th) and 95(th) percentile, at risk of future hypertension if not managed adequately), was 10.5% in boys and 6.9% in girls, with similar distributions among the two sexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present the first age-specific reference values for blood pressure of Lebanese children aged 5 to 15 years based on a good representative sample. The use of these reference values should help pediatricians identify children with normal, high-normal and high blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Bassem Abou
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Merhi
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Al-Hajj
authors.forename: Mohamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Tannir
authors.forename: Fouad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ziade
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Rajab