Blood pressure in adolescence. The United States Health Examination survey.

A nationally representative sample of adolescents 12-17 years of age were examined in the U.S. Health Examination Survey and relationships between blood pressure and other variables were explored. During adolescence, blood pressure increases more rapidly in males than in females and only small racial differences are present. Weight has the strongest relationship to both systolic and diastolic pressure. Physiological maturation assessed by skeletal age and adiposity (skinfold thickness) are components of weight and each is also related to blood pressure. Although systolic murmurs are related to blood pressure at the time of examination, the murmurs are transitory and not predictive of future pressures. All factors were equally influential in each race-sex group. No significant relationships were found between geographic or demographic variables and blood pressure. These observations indicate the important relationships of physiological maturation and adiposity to adolescent blood pressure.