[The prevalence of elevated arterial pressure and risk factors in adolescents in the Federal District of Mexico]. / Prevalencia de tensión arterial elevada y factores de riesgo en adolescentes en el Distrito Federal.

To develop studies on blood pressure (BP) of young population, such as adolescents, is important, because it is an early way to obtain information about the factors that could influence or modify the levels of BP. A group of 1,146 junior high school students from Mexico City was studied, by means of a questionnaire to identify risk factors, which were classified as: 1. inherent factors, 2. acquired risks and 3. family background. A significant association was observed related to inherent factors in scholars, mainly at monarch age with an odds ratio of 2.45; and confidence intervals of (1.05-5.63) for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 8.81 (4.44-17.54) for diastolic blood pressure (DBP). In relation to acquired risks, there was a positive association with the use of contraceptives. As for family background there was as important association, in the following order: obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Therefore, it may be said that since early ages there are risk factors for BP; although some of them were not significantly, they can not be excluded as risk factors because there is a possibility that a longer latency period may be needed for them to act as such.