Characteristic Study ID	Measurement period			Study population	Intervention group	Control group	Overall effect	Comments
Angelopoulos 2009	Baseline			646 boys and girls	73	74	NS	BP was measured in the right arm with the subject seated and quiet after a 5‐min rest, using a validated automated sphygmomanometer (Omron M5i Blood Pressure Monitor)
	End of intervention (12 months)				73	76	P = 0.005
Bayne‐Smith 2004	Baseline			442 girls	71	70		Measured after 5 to 15 min of rest in a seated position by the auscultatory method from the right arm at heart level. The second of two measurements was used
	End of intervention				68	70	P < 0.001
Burke 1998	Standard PE program	Boys	Baseline	720 boys and girls	NA	NA		BP measured using Dinamp. An initial measurement was taken and after a 5‐min rest period in the sitting position, 3 further measurements were taken at 1 minute intervals. The average of the latter 3 measurements was used All measures of diastolic BP increased over time and results tended to favor the control group, except for high risk girls attending the standard PE program
			End of intervention		NA	NA	NS
		Girls	Baseline		NA	NA
			End of intervention		NA	NA	P < 0.05
	Enriched PE program	Boys	Baseline		NA	NA
			End of intervention		NA	NA	NS
		Girls	Baseline		NA	NA
			End of intervention		NA	NA	NS
Bush 1989	Baseline			431 boys and girls	73	71	P < 0.001	3 resting BP measurements were taken with a standard mercury sphygmomanometer read to the nearest mm, with the child seated. An average of the 2nd and 3rd readings were used Positive treatment effects prolonged throughout intervention period
	During intervention (year 1)				67	70	P < 0.000
	During intervention (year 2)				64	68	P < 0.000
	During intervention (year 3)				57	61	P < 0.000
	End of intervention				59	61	P < 0.009
Ewart 1998	Baseline			88 adolescent girls	58	60	NS	BP was measured after 15 min in a sitting position. The average of 6 readings was used to assess baseline resting pressure. Same procedure was used at follow‐up.
	End of intervention				57	59	NS
Kriemler 2010	Baseline			502 boys and girls	62	61	NA	BP was assessed after a rest period of 5 min at the right arm based on recommendations of the American Heart Association. An automated oscillograph was used in order to reduce inter‐observer variability. BP was measured 5 times and the mean of the 3 measurements with the smallest variation was taken
	End of intervention				60	61	P = 0.28 −0.1 (95% CI −0.4 to 0.1)
Luepker 1996	Baseline			4019 boys and girls	54	53	P < 0.93	5 recordings (1 min apart) were obtained after a 5 min rest period using the Dinamap automatic BP device. The average of the last 3 readings was used
	End of intervention (year 3)				56	56	P < 0.66
Martinez 2008	Boys	Baseline		1044 boys and girls	63	66	P = 0.007	After a 5‐min rest, 3 BP readings were taken at 2‐min intervals. BP was obtained with an OMRON M5‐I automatic sphygmomanometer using 3 cuffs sized for arm circumference. The mean of the 3 BP readings was used in the analyses
		End of intervention (9 months)			63	62.5	P = 0.03 1.6 (95% CI 0.2 to 2.9)
	Girls	Baseline			65	67	P = 0.001
		End of intervention (9 months)			63	64	P = 0.85 0.1 (95% CI ‐1.4 to 1.2)
McManus 2008	Intervention 1	Baseline End of intervention (6 months)		193 boys and girls	56	54		Diastolic BP was measured manually using a paediatric cuff after 15 min of supine rest
		End of intervention (6 months)			60	57	NS
	Intervention 2	Baseline			58	54
		End of intervention (6 months)			60	57	NS
Reed 2008	Baseline			514 boys and girls	63	60	NA	Duplicate measurements were taken on the left arm using an automated sphygmomanometer and an appropriately sized cuff after 5 to 10 min rest in a supine position The lowest systolic and diastolic BP (mm Hg) were recorded
	End of intervention				63	65	NS
Simon 2004	Baseline			954 adolescent males and females	65	64		Diastolic BP was measured on seated children, after a 5‐min rest, using a fully automatic BP monitor and an adapted cuff size.
	End of intervention (year 4)				67	66	P = 0.60 ‐0.5 (95% CI ‐2 to 1)
Stephens 1998	Baseline			90 boys and girls	58	58
	End of intervention				50	50	NS
Walter 1988	Westchester	Baseline		3388 boys and girls	70	73	NS	BP was measured in the seated position using the right arm using a Baum mercury sphygmomanometer 3 times. The average of the 3 measures was used
		End of intervention			70	73	NS
	Bronx	Baseline			74	73	NS
		End of intervention			73	73	NS
Walther 2009	Baseline			182 boys and girls	63	65	NS
	End of intervention (year 1)				54	54	P = 0.937 0 (95% CI ‐3 to 3)
Wang 2008	Baseline			316 boys and girls	66	66	NS	The biological measurements were made in a mobile laboratory that was brought to the school sites. Diastolic BP was measured with a Dinamap. Subjects sat quietly for 5 min, 5 measurements were taken at 1‐min intervals, and the mean of the last 3 measurements was used
	End of intervention				63	65	P = 0.41 ‐1 (95% CI ‐4 to 2)
Young 2006	Baseline			210 adolescent girls	60	59
	End of intervention (1 year)				58	57	NS P = 0.49
CI: confidence interval; NA: not acknowledged; NS: not significant; BP: blood pressure; PE: physical education.