Blood pressure of low income, Mexican-American children

Blood pressure (BP) readings were obtained for 1,680 low income Mexican-American (MA) children, ages ten-14 years, to determine distributions among this ethnic group. Analysis of data indicated mean BP increased with age, with boys exhibiting slightly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures than girls. Comparison of MA subjects with National Institutes of Health percentile norms revealed significantly lower BP levels (p less than .001) among study subjects at all age groups.