Abstract

Author(s): Felix Pereira, Flávia Erika1; Da Costa Teixeira, Fabiana2; Da Silva Barros Rausch, Ana Paula3; Gonçalves Ribeiro, Beatriz4

Introdution: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Brazil and in the world, and high blood pressure is an important risk factor for its development. It is suggested that primary hypertension starts in childhood, and it may worse with advancing age.

Objective: Review the literature about the prevalence of hypertension among Brazilian school-age children

Methods: Systematic review of cientific studies published from January 2004 to July 2014. The search was conducted in Scielo and PubMed databases, and manual research of articles presented in the references. The used key words were: “arterial hypertension”, “high blood pressure”, “children”, “school” and “Brazil.”

Results: 8 articles were selected. The volunteer’s age range was from 6 to 10 years old. All studies were carried out in public or private schools and in different cities. The prevalence of hypertension ranged from 2.3% to 13.8% varying according to nutritional status of the sample and methodology used. In articles that pre-hypertension was also evaluated the range was from 3.8% to 40.6%. Highest prevalence rates were found in children with overweight.

Conclusion: The presented data indicate that the presence of high levels of blood pressure in childhood is not rare, with distinct prevalence, influenced mainly by the lifestyle and nutritional status. New studies to evaluate blood pressure in childhood are necessary in order to promote grants for prevention programs.