The proposed study population comprises black and white students from three sourthern universities and one northern university aged 16-25 with disparate socioeconomic backgrounds. The following hypoptheses will be tested. (1) Both black and white college students living in the old so-called """"""""stroke belt"""""""" of the southeast will continue to have higher blood pressure than college students living in the middle Atlantic area. (2) First generation upwardly mobile blacks, college students from families in which neither of the parents went to college will have higher blood pressures than second generation educated where one or both parent(s) also went to college. (3) Socioeconomic status of parents will be related to the risk factors of the college students, obesity, cigarette smoking, sodium/potassium excretion in the urine and calcium dietary intake. (4) Strong family history of hypertension defined as both parents being hypertensive will be associated with higher blood pressures among both black and white college students. (5) Black college students will excrete more sodium and less potassium in the urine and consume less calcium in the diet than white students. Black and white college students in the southeast will excrete more sodium and less potassium in the urine and have a lower calcium intake. (6) Black college students in the south, especially the women will be more obese than the women in the north. Over time, weight gain and increased blood pressure will occur more frequently among blacks as compared to white college students, especially among the women and will be related to the socioeconomic status and history of hypertension among the parents. (7) College students who drop out of college will have more adverse risk factors such as higher blood pressures, more obesity, heavier cigarette smoking, and more alcohol consumption than those students who will be followed through their college career. (8) Selected psychosocial factors of the college students such as Type A behavior will vary by geographical location and blood pressure level. Baseline measurements of blood pressure and cardiovascular risk factors will be obtained on each participant. Each student will be followed and reassessed for at least 3 years after initial observation to detect changes in cardiovascular risk factors.
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