Blood pressure and body measurements among Navajo adolescents

WE ASSESSED THE PREVALENCE of obesity, high normal blood pressure (BP), and the relationship between BP and anthropometric measurements in a sample of Navajo adolescents. The prevalence of obesity in boys and girls was 3 times that expected in U.S. white adolescents of the same age (17.1% for boys, 15.9% for girls) using body mass index as a criterion. The prevalence of high normal BP (between the 90th and 95th percentiles) was nearly twice that expected by definition (8.7% for boys and 9.1% for girls). Although systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) increased significantly with age for boys and not for girls, SBP and DBP increased significantly with increasing body mass for both boys and girls. Given the high prevalence of obesity and the observed association with BP, primary prevention of hypertension among the Navajo should emphasize maintaining a healthy body weight at early ages.