[Prevalence of high blood pressure and associated factors in students from public schools in Greater Metropolitan Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil, 2006].

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension (high blood pressure) and associated health factors in adolescents, using a cross-sectional, population-based, epidemiological design from April to September 2006, within a stratified sample according to school size and shift. Using the Portuguese version of the Global School-Based Student Health Survey questionnaire, 1,878 students from 29 public schools in Greater Metropolitan Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil, were analyzed for: age, gender, body mass index, fruit, vegetable, alcohol, and tobacco consumption, as well as blood pressure, adopting the 1996 Task Force Report on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention parameters for nutritional status. Prevalence rates for high blood pressure, overweight, and obesity were 17.3%, 6.9%, and 3.7%, respectively. Factors associated with high blood pressure were: male gender, obesity, overweight, and lack of physical activity. Knowledge of factors associated with arterial hypertension in adolescents can help support health education campaigns.