title: The Prevalence of Elevated Blood Pressure in Adolescents in Nassau, The Bahamas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (EBP) in Bahamian adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey employing a self-administered questionnaire, and concurrently obtaining anthropometric measurements, was conducted involving selected grades 9, 10 and 11 students of all targeted public high schools in The Bahamas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the 785 participants was 14.6 (± 1.153) years, and 87.6% were Bahamian. The prevalence of elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 4.7% and 6.6% for elevated diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Elevated blood pressure prevalence was 8.9%. Elevated blood pressure was more common among grade 9 students (12-14-year olds) who had the largest proportion of EBP (55.7%). Both SBP and DBP increased with age in the males. Overall, students' prevalence of overweight/obesity was 32.2% (14.4% overweight, 17.8% obese). Body mass index (BMI), number of days per week eating fast food and perception of body weight were predictive of EBP. Body mass index, age and perception of body weight were found to be predictive of SBP (βBMI = 0.25, p < 0.001; βAge = 0.14, p < 0.001; βWeight = 0.08, p < 0.037) and DBP (βDBP = 0.192, p < 0.001). Overweight/obese students were 2.7 times more likely to have EBP. Elevated blood pressure was markedly associated with BMI, family history of hypertension and parents' overweight/obese status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated prevalence of EBP in adolescent school children in New Providence, Bahamas, was comparable with neighbouring nations.
authors.affiliation: University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.|Department of Family Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas. colcat21@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conliffe
authors.affiliation: University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frankson
authors.affiliation: University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.|Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.|Princess Margaret Hospital, Nassau, Bahamas.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hanna-Mahase
authors.affiliation: The College of the Bahamas, Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oriakhi