Letters to the Editor

Abstract

Although we are unable to defend the statistical analysis offered in our paper (Pediatrics 62:844, 1978) concerning the incidence of systemic hypertension in the parents and/or siblings of our two groups of patients, we do not share Dr. Tunnessen’s concerns concerning the effects of race and socioeconomic status on pediatric blood pressures.

We have been impressed with the relative lack of influence of race on pediatric blood pressure, especially in children less than age 14, sharing the beliefs of Londe and co-workers (J Pediatr 90:93, 1977) that "impressive racial differences in blood pressure do not appear in children 3 to 14 years of age," although mindful of the findings of Miller and Shekelle (Circulation 54:993, 1976) that 15- and 16-year-old blacks have somewhat higher mean diastolic (but not systolic) pressures than whites.