Hypertension prevalence among 15-19-year-old school adolescents in Meerut was 12.8%, higher in males (14.9%), 18-19 years (15.73%), nonvegetarians (18.8%), and Muslims (22.4%).
What is the prevalence of high blood pressure and its determinants among school-going late adolescents in urban areas of Meerut City?
Nearly 13% of school-going late adolescents in this urban cohort had hypertension, highlighting the early onset of this lifestyle disease and the need for routine blood pressure screening in children.
Abstract Background: Nowadays, hypertension has become an emerging health issue in both children and adolescents. The prevalence of hypertension is increased gradually past decades by decades. Now, hypertension is not a noncommunicable disease, but it is a lifestyle disease which arises not in adulthood but initially arises in early childhood in both developed and developing countries. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 1770 school-going adolescents of aged 15–19 years from schools of Meerut urban area. The school list was obtained from Internet, and schools were selected by simple random sampling. All the students of class 9 th to 12 th from selected school were covered. Statistical tests like Chi-square test were applied, and P < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in adolescents was found to be 12.8%. The study revealed that the highest percentage was found in nonvegetarians (18.8%) in the age group 18–19 years (15.73%), more in males (14.9%) and also higher in Muslim religion (22.4%), which was found statistically significant. Percentages of smokers, alcoholic, and tobacco chewers were higher among hypertensive students, and this association was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). The association between dietary habits was not found significant. Conclusion: Almost nearly 13% of the school children had high blood pressure. Hypertension was found to be significant with age, gender, type of diet, religion, and consumption of pulses. Blood pressure measurements should be included in daily examination as part of the care of children.
Kishor et al. (2026) studied this question. Hypertension prevalence among 15-19-year-old school adolescents in Meerut was 12.8%, higher in males (14.9%), 18-19 years (15.73%), nonvegetarians (18.8%), and Muslims (22.4%).