Correlates of blood pressure in Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) and non-SDA adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This comparative study was designed to discover early determinants of systolic (S) and diastolic (D) blood pressure (BP) elevations in 138 Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) and 89 non-SDA male and female adolescents (median age, 17 years) living at three residential secondary schools in North Carolina. METHODS: Measurements were made of blood pressure, body weight, and height, and information was collected on lifestyle factors, dietary intake, and other behaviors, including exercise, religiosity, Type A behavior, and anger, by questionnaire. Multiple stepwise regression analyses were performed with BP, either SBP or DBP, as the independent variable. RESULTS: A significant direct association was found only between body weight and BP, but weak associations were shown between BP and other variables, including exercise, diet, religiosity, Type A behavior, and anger. Male and female SDA students showed significantly higher SBPs and DBPs than did non-SDA adolescents though the differences were small (approximately 5 mm for each sex). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the higher BP values of SDA adolescents, who were all practicing lacto-ovo-vegetarians, compared to similarly aged health-conscious non-SDAs, are determined more by eating behaviors that contribute to gains in body weight than by any other lifestyle variable. Furthermore, these data support the notion that the BP-protective effects of the vegetarian diet may not emerge in these SDA youth until early adulthood.