Abstract
To investigate an effect of dietary sodium and potassium on blood pressure, 418 adolescents living in Kangwha area were studied. Two measurements were taken on each blood pressure(diastolic, systolic) and the average of the two readings was used in the analysis. Sodium and potassium intake were estimated by the determination of those electrolytes in 24hr urine. Not only dietary factors but also physical growth factors such as weight, height, arm-circumference and skinfold-thickness were induced in the stepwise multiple regression analysis to indentify the relative importance between the factors. The variation of blood pressure both in systolic and diastolic in both sexes was inconsistent with the levels of sodium and potassium intake. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the physical growth were more influential than nutrient factor. It suggested that hypertension risk factors observed form the adults, may not be identical with that of the growing aged population. After control of the physical growth, there was no significant variation observed by the level of sodium and potassium intake on blood pressure. In summary, the results indicate that growth has been more influential than dietary factor on blood pressure for growing aged population.