Blood pressure in puberty

The effects of sexual maturation, height, weight, body mass index, triceps skinfold and heart rate on systolic and diastolic blood pressure were studied among 13-year-old children in North Karelia, Eastern Finland. Cross-sectional and two-year longitudinal data were analyzed for 851 children in the six schools participating in the North Karelia Youth Project. In boys, the levels of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased during puberty. In girls, the level of systolic blood pressure did not change, but diastolic blood pressure increased as much as in boys. The change in systolic blood pressure was found to be associated with physical growth and stage of sexual maturation. Physical growth seemed to contribute more to the change in the level of systolic blood pressure than the stage of sexual maturation did.