Change in blood pressure in offspring of parents with high or low blood pressure: the Dutch Hypertension and Offspring Study.

A family history of hypertension is an important predictor of high blood pressure. We investigated the question of whether this predisposition affects the level and change of blood pressure early in life, and in particular, at what age the familial aggregation of blood pressure occurs. Blood pressure and related characteristics were studied in children whose parents both had relatively high blood pressure ('high') and the results were compared with those from children whose parents both had a relatively low blood pressure ('low') and with children with one parent high and the other parent low ('mixed'). At the age of 8 years there were no clear differences in pressure but at the age of 20 years there was a difference of 7 mmHg for both systolic and diastolic pressure between the high- and low-risk offspring. These findings suggest that the magnitude of familial aggregation of blood pressure increases during childhood and adolescence.