Impact of weight, height and age on blood pressure among school children

Present study was carried out among 500 school children (250 boys and 250 girls) above the age of 9 years from two randomly selected primary schools after selection of one zone randomly out of six administrative zones of Surat city. Objective of the study was to determine the strength of association and the variability of blood pressure (BP) with weight, height and age amongst school children. Correlation coefficient of Systolic blood pressure (SBP) with weight, height and age were 0.34, 0.32 and 0.24 respectively, while for Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for the same variable it was 0.33, 0.22 and 0.03 respectively. All the correlation coefficients were found significant except for DBP with age. It was also found that the body weight was most significant predictor of BP. Hence by maintaining the body weight from early childhood , hypertension in community can be controlled.