Prevalence of Hypertension among School Children in Puducherry

Hypertension in childhood is now recognized to be a common and serious problem with a prevalence of 2% to 5%. Early identification of children at risk for hypertension, proper evaluation and appropriate management are important to prevent the serious, long – term complications associated with the condition. The present study was undertaken in this direction, to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and identify the risk factors in among school children (11 – 17 years) in Puducherry. After critically analyzing the results of the present study and comparing the results with other studies, it can be concluded that: Blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic gradually increases with age, the increase being more pronounced in systolic blood pressure than in diastolic blood pressure. The increase in the blood pressure with increase in the age is not uniform with a wide range of fluctuations, between different age groups.