Prevalence of Hypertension in 9‐ to 10‐Year‐Old Icelandic School Children

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2011;13:774–779. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The purpose of the study was to investigate blood pressure (BP) distribution, prevalence of hypertension, and correlation between BP and body mass index (BMI) in 9‐ to 10‐year‐old Icelandic children. Two manual and two automated BP measurements were performed in 1071 Icelandic children. Children with elevated BP underwent a second BP screening, and a third screening was performed if the BP was elevated at the second visit. Hypertension was defined as BP ≥95th percentile at all three visits. White‐coat hypertension was diagnosed in hypertensive children with normal 24‐hour ambulatory BP. Of 970 children with complete data, 489 were girls (50.4%). The mean BP was 111/63 mm Hg in girls and 112/64 mm Hg in boys (P