How to use these tables

To use the tables in a clinical setting, the height percentile is determined from the standard growth charts. The child's measured systolic and diastolic BP is compared with the numbers provided in the table (boys or girls) for age and height percentile. The child is normotensive if BP is below the 90th percentile. If the child's BP (systolic or diastolic) is at or above the 95th percentile, the child may be hypertensive and repeated measurements are indicated. BP measurements between the 90th and 95th percentiles are prehypertensive and warrant further observation and consideration of other risk factors. In general, the goal of antihypertensive maintenance therapy is blood pressure below the 95th percentile for otherwise healthy children, and below the 90th percentile for children with any other organ involvement.  

1Source

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National High Blood Pressure Education Program. The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. NIH Publication No. 05-5268. Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Revised May 2005, pp 8-15. Entire document can be viewed at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/hbp/hbp_ped.pdf

Table 3: Blood Pressure Levels for the 50th, 90th, 95th and 99th Percentiles of Blood Pressure for Boys Age 1 to 17 Years by Percentiles of Height

Table 4: Blood Pressure Levels for the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th Percentiles of Blood Pressure for Girls Age 1 to 17 Years by Percentiles of Height
 

This information is prepared specifically for caregivers involved in clinical research at the NIH Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health.