Background :  Hypertension in children is one of the growing public health problem worldwide. Childhood hypertension may cause significant morbidity and mortality in future. The objective of the study is to find the prevalence of childhood hypertension and prehypertension in school going children in Kanchipuram district.

Methods: A cross–sectional study conducted from February 2017 till July 2018 in Kanchipuram . A total of 1020 school students of age between 10 to 15 years were taken up for this study. Both govt and private school students were taken for this study. Anthropometric variables such as Height,Weight,BMI and Blood pressure were measured for each child separately.Then children were catogorized as hypertensive or pre–hypertensive based on Fourth Task Force report.

Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension was 3.92% and pre–hypertension was 6.76%.In government school children the prevalence of hypertension was 3.46% and pre–hypertension was 5.06%. In private school children the prevalence of hypertension was 4.18% and pre–hypertension was 7.75% .

Conclusions: Hypertension in children is prevalent in both government and private schools,with high prevalence in private schools.Regular blood pressure monitoring should be made mandatory in all schools atleast once a year.