Most young Indigenous Aussies have normal blood pressure

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-01-20 16:45

Australia; NSW; VIC; SA; WA; ACT

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Australian researchers looked at blood pressure data from 771 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 10–24 years living in regional, remote, and urban communities in Central Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales. They found 91 participants (11.8%) had blood pressure readings indicating early signs of high blood pressure, and 148 (19.2%) had high blood pressure. Men and boys and participants with obesity were more likely to have signs of high blood pressure. But blood pressure was within the normal range for most young Indigenous people in the study, the authors say. Community‐level, culturally safe approaches should be adopted to avoid the early onset of cardiovascular risks, including elevated blood pressure, among young Indigenous Aussies, they recommend.

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Journal/
conference: Medical Journal of Australia

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne, The Australian National University, Curtin University, Flinders University, The University of Western Australia, The University of New South Wales, George Institute for Global Health

Funder: The Next Generation Youth Well-being Study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; 1089104). Emily Banks is supported by an NHMRC Investigator grant (2017742). T

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