Pattern of Blood Pressure Among Children of Hypertensive and Non Hypertensive Parents in Wukari, Nigeria

Blood pressure (BP), an important health index is receiving less attention among children in spite of evidence that hypertension (high BP) is a familial disease. This study compared blood pressures of apparently healthy children of hypertensive and non-hypertensive adults in Wukari, Nigeria.

A two-stage sampling technique was used to select 250 children aged 10-19 years each of Hypertensive Parents (HP) (140) and Non-Hypertensive Parents (NHP) (180). Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on children’s socio-demographic characteristics and predisposing factors to hypertension. Height was measured. BP was measured using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer with appropriate cuff size for age. Center for Disease Control blood pressure table was used to classify BP of children 10-17 years as normal (<90^th percentile), pre-hypertension (≥90^th <95^th percentile) and hypertension (≥95^th percentile). The BP of children 18-19 years was classified as normal (<120/80mmHg), pre-hypertension (≥120-139/80-89mmHg) and hypertension (≥140/90mmHg). Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test.

Mean age of children of NHP and HP was 13.5 ±2.9 and 14.7 ±3.0 years respectively. Identified predisposing factors to hypertension among respondents included adding extra salt to food (52.7%) and inadequate physical exercise (34.0%). No significant difference in proportion of children with normal (68.4%, 63.6%), pre-hypertension (22.8%, 26.8%), and hypertension (8.8%, 9.6%) among NHP and HP respectively. More children aged 18-19 years of HP had pre-hypertension and hypertension (48.4%, 14.5%) than those of NHP with (40.0%, 2.9%) respectively (p<0.05). Children aged 10-17 years of NHP had higher proportion of pre-hypertension and hypertension (20.0%, 9.8%) than those of HP (19.7%, 8.0%) respectively (p<0.05).

This study showed no difference in BP estimate among children of HP and those of NHP. However, increase in age revealed influence of parental BP on that of children. Interventions should be targeted at establishing routine BP measurements among this age group.   

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