title: Prevalence and Correlates of Elevated Blood Pressure in Chinese Children Aged 6-13 Years: a Nationwide School-Based Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (EBP) in Chinese children and identify individual and family factors associated with EBP.
  
  
  METHODS
  A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted in 2010 using stratified cluster sampling. Participants' blood pressure was measured, and their parents completed a questionnaire on personal and family characteristics. Prevalence and correlates of EBP were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among a total of 24,333 participants, 20.2% of boys and 16.3% of girls had EBP. The prevalence of EBP increased with the ascending trend of waist circumference, Waist-to-height ratio, and body mass index. The adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) for obese boys and girls were 2.50 and 2.97, respectively. Fewer urban boys (16.2%) had EBP than rural boys (21.7%). Boys with a family history of hypertension were 12% more likely to have EBP. Children whose mothers received a college education tended to have lower likelihood of EBP; with an aPR was 0.85 among boys and 0.78 among girls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EBP is common among obese students and those who have a family history of hypertension. A negative association between mothers' education levels and EBP risk in children was found.
authors.affiliation: Division of Non-communicable Disease Control and Community Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Office of Medical Statistics, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Wei Rong
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Health and Related Product Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio
keywords: Body mass index; Children; China; Cross-sectional study; Elevated blood pressure; Waist circumference; Waist-to-height ratio