Although the prevalence of clinical hypertension is of a far lesser magnitude in children than adults, there is ample evidence to support the concept that the roots of essential hypertension extend back into childhood. Prospective cohort data that could yield precise information about the relationship between childhood BP and cardiovascular risk are not yet available. Nonetheless, high BP in children represents a significant clinical problem which in 1977 was comprehensively addressed by the Task Force on Blood Pressure Control in Children. Contained herein, 10 years later, is the revised version of the original Task Force report including normative BP data derived from sampling more than 70,000 children, as well as advice on methodology and instrumentation for BP measurement, guidelines for detecting children with high BP, and strategies for appropriate diagnostic evaluation and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment.
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