Body temperature and its relationship to demographic and cardiovascular risk factors in a national sample of children and adolescents.

The association of body temperature with demographic, maturational, constitutional, and cardiovascular risk variables was investigated in a large, representative sample of US children and adolescents in the Health Examination Survey. While body temperatures in children ages 6 to 11 years were not related to demographic variables, temperatures in children ages 12 to 17 were lower at older ages, higher in females than males, and higher in whites than blacks. In multiple regression analyses, demographic variables, maturational variables, and variables related to heat production or loss explained less than 10% of the variation in body temperature. Body temperature was a significant independent correlate of resting heart rate and systolic blood pressure at ages 6 to 11 and 12 to 17. Body temperature showed weak tracking over a follow-up interval averaging 44 months.