Hypertension and its determinants among primary-school children in Kuwait: an epidemiological study

A multistage, stratified random sample of 1312 students (aged 6-10 years) was selected from the five regions in Kuwait. Parents were interviewed and weight, height and urine analysis of the children were taken. Blood pressure was measured on at least three separate occasions. The overall prevalence of hypertension (average systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure > 95th percentile for age and sex) was 5.1%. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, certain groups of Kuwaiti schoolchildren were much more likely to develop hypertension. They included children whose parents were consanguineous, children with a family history of hypertension and obese children.