Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements in healthy primary school entrants in Jos, Nigeria

Objectives. To describe blood pressure and its relationship to weight and height in healthy newly enrolled school entrants in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Methods. We measured the blood pressures of 650 healthy, randomly selected pupils after a complete physical examination at the start of school in the morning, using standard procedures. Results. There were 301 male and 349 female children (male/female ratio 0.9:1). Their ages ranged from 5 to 12 years, with a mean of 6.6 (standard deviation (SD) 1.3) years. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 102.5 (SD 9.43) and 73.0 (SD 10.0) mmHg, respectively, and were significantly higher in private school pupils compared with public school pupils (97.1 (SD 9.17) and 70.1 (SD 9.65) mmHg, respectively, p