RESUMO
Five hundred and fifty randomly selected healthy non-pregnant females and males aged 15 years and above were studied to determine the variation of blood pressure with body build and sex. Of the 550 respondents, 265 (48.2%) and 285 (51.8%) were males and females respectively while 60.2% were youths. Body build rose steadily with increasing age groups until middle age. In the males, it levelled up at the 6th decade of life while in the female this levelling up was at the 4th decade. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures rose with body build (p < 0.05). Body build was higher in those respondents with elevated blood pressure than in normotensives (p < 0.05). This community survey has demonstrated a similar pattern of variation of body build with blood pressure observed in European and American populations in a rural West African population.
