TABLE 3.
Prevalence of High Blood Pressure According to Year and BMI Category
| Year | CDC BMI-for-Age Percentile | No. With High Blood Pressurea | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <50th | 50–84th | 85th–94th | 95th–96th | ≥97th | Observed | Expectedb | |
| 1974–1977 | 4%c (167/3790) | 6% (151/2528) | 10% (76/765) | 13% (26/205) | 24% (64/266) | 484 | 484 |
| 1979 | 6% (101/1667) | 8% (102/1260) | 10% (40/385) | 19% (17/91) | 26% (45/172) | 305 | 240 |
| 1982 | 5% (76/1544) | 9% (116/1174) | 10% (39/386) | 13% (16/120) | 16% (44/168) | 275 | 232 |
| 1985 | 4%(59/1387) | 7% (82/1115) | 8% (34/423) | 10% (12/125) | 21% (42/202) | 223 | 249 |
| 1988 | 2% (30/1227) | 4% (53/1119) | 5% (23/468) | 4% (5/127) | 11% (31/273) | 136 | 258 |
| 1993 | 3% (33/1076) | 4% (47/1040) | 6% (28/469) | 6% (10/180) | 13% (45/340) | 154 | 261 |
a
An SBP or DBP level that was ≥90th percentile of the Fourth Report.25
b
Expected numbers represent the number of children who would have had a high blood pressure each year if the prevalence of high blood pressure had stayed the same as in 1974–1977. For example, the number of children expected to have had high blood pressure in 1993 was obtained by multiplying the 1974–1977 rates by the 1993 sample sizes: 0.044 × 1076 + 0.060 × 1040 + 0.099 × 469 + 0.127 × 180 + 0.241 × 340 = 261. Additional standardization for race, gender, and age altered the value only slightly (n = 274).
c
Values represent the percentage of children in specified cell who had high blood pressure.