Blood pressure in Japanese children during the first three years of life. The Hisayama Study

T. Harada, J. Fukushige and K. Ueda
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Blood pressure (BP) measurements were obtained from 522 healthy young children aged from 3 months to 3 years in Hisayama, Japan. The measurements were performed using a Doppler ultrasound device applied to children who were awake and sitting quietly on their mothers' laps. This method of obtaining BP was successful in 80% to 90% of children aged 3, 6, and 36 months, and in 60% to 70% of children aged between 12 and 18 months. Mean systolic BP varied from 88 mm Hg at 3 months to 96 mm Hg at 3 years and showed a tendency to elevate with increasing age, with the increment being the greatest between ages 3 and 6 months. Mean diastolic BP was constant throughout the first three years of life.