Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Fast track – JSH2023 OSAKA
  • Published:

Blood pressure in Japanese junior and senior high school students

Hypertension Research volume 47, pages 195–196 (2024)Cite this article

High blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents is associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension and related diseases, such as cardiovascular and renal diseases, in adulthood [1]. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis also demonstrated that children with hypertension are already at an increased risk for having several adverse cardiovascular and metabolic profiles [2]. In 2023, the American Heart Association released a scientific statement concerning pediatric primary hypertension [3], for which social efforts toward broad screening and optimization of BP are urgently required. Thus, growing global attention has recently been focused on BP management in the younger generation.

Timed to coincide with the trend, in June 2023, for the first time, we performed not only BP measurements, but also a lecture on BP for first-, second-, and third-year junior high school students (N = 265) and first- and second-year senior high school students (N = 307) attending the KOGAKUKAN JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL in Saga Prefecture, Japan. Before BP measurement, we delivered a short lecture (15–30 min) on the principles of BP, the significance of its measurement, and the adverse aspects of a high BP. BP measurements were performed using an upper arm automatic BP monitor (HEM-1040; Omron, Kyoto, Japan), whose applicable arm circumference for its cuff size is 22 to 42 cm, in the gymnasium.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1

References

  1. Yang L, Magnussen CG, Yang L, Bovet P, Xi B. Elevated blood pressure in childhood or adolescence and cardiovascular outcomes in adulthood: a systematic review. Hypertension. 2020;75:948–55.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Chung J, Robinson CH, Yu A, Bamhraz AA, Ewusie JE, Sanger S, et al. Risk of target organ damage in children with primary ambulatory hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hypertension. 2023;80:1183–96.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Falkner B, Gidding SS, Baker-Smith CM, Brady TM, Flynn JT, Malle LM, et al. Pediatric primary hypertension: an underrecognized condition: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2023;80:e101–11.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Umemura S, Arima H, Arima S, Asayama K, Dohi Y, Hirooka Y, et al. The Japanese Society of Hypertension guidelines for the management of hypertension (JSH 2019). Hypertens Res. 2019;42:1235–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the teachers and students of the KOGAKUKAN JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL for their cooperation in this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Atsushi Tanaka, Ayumu Yajima, Masahiro Natsuaki, Goro Yoshioka & Koichi Node

  2. Department of Advanced Epidemiology, NCD Epidemiology Research Center, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan

    Kaori Kitaoka & Yuichiro Yano

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hidehiro Kaneko

  4. Department of Advanced Cardiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hidehiro Kaneko

  5. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan

    Akira Nishiyama

Authors
  1. Atsushi Tanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ayumu Yajima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kaori Kitaoka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masahiro Natsuaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Goro Yoshioka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hidehiro Kaneko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yuichiro Yano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Akira Nishiyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Koichi Node
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Atsushi Tanaka or Koichi Node.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

This work was approved by Ethics Committee Saga University Hospital (2023-03-R-05). Informed consent was obtained from students and their parents through documents, with opting out freely allowed.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tanaka, A., Yajima, A., Kitaoka, K. et al. Blood pressure in Japanese junior and senior high school students. Hypertens Res 47, 195–196 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01498-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01498-2

Keywords

Search

Advanced search

Quick links