Table 3. Solutions to the challenge of potential confounders.

Potential Confounder of Neurocognitive Test Performance	Solution
The presence of a learning disability or attention deficit disorder.	Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or learning disability are excluded.
The presence of sleep disordered breathing and daytime sleepiness.	Children with a previous sleep study diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea are excluded. The hypertensive and normotensive groups are frequency matched for proportion with obesity. Parents complete the Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder scale of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) to allow for adjustment for disordered sleep in the analysis. All study subjects are reminded by phone the day prior to study visits to come well-rested, and the number of hours of sleep the previous night is recorded, as a surrogate for sleepiness on day of testing in the analysis.
The presence of the metabolic syndrome.	Fasting glucose, insulin, and CRP are measured at baseline to allow for adjustment for the potential effects of obesity and metabolic syndrome on cognition.
Low socioeconomic status and low maternal education.	The hypertensive and normotensive groups are frequency matched for maternal education. Household income data are collected to be used as an additional measure of socioeconomic status in the statistical analysis.
The presence of depression and/or anxiety.	Measures of depression and anxiety are incorporated into the neurocognitive assessments to allow for adjustment for mood abnormalities.