Blood pressure, electrolytes, and body size: their relationships in young relatives of men with essential hypertension.

In 154 white chldren aged 8 to 18 years from four large kindreds, relationships among blood pressure (BP), age, sex, body size, and electrolyte excretion were studied. Each kindred was ascertained through one male aged 35-58 years with essential hypertension, namely, a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) over 95 mm Hg. Weight, relative weight (relative to NCHS median for age, sex, and stature), subcutaneous fatfolds, various indices of obesity, and other measures of body size were significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and DBP in each sex (r = 0.3 to 0.7). Sodium and potassium excretion in 24-hour urine was also positively correlated with some measures of body size, and tended to increase with body size at a slightly more rapid rate in boys than in girls. In addition, there was a strong correlation between electrolyte excretion and BP in boys (r = 0.2 to 0.6); however, when the effects of age, body size and fatness were statistically removed, the correlations between BP and electrolyte excretion were not significant, except for 4th phase diastolic pressure (DBP4). These data, therefore, while not strongly supporting a relationship between sodium excretion and BP in children, do not rule out such a relationship, especially in families with a history of hypertension. In addition, these data provide further evidence of a very strong association between BP and body size and fatness in boys and girls.