Naidoo S, et al. - Researchers assessed the prevalence of elevated blood pressure (EBP) at 23 years of age within the Birth to Twenty Plus (BT20) cohort in urban Soweto, South Africa, which previously demonstrated a prevalence of EBP that ranged from 22.4% at 5 years of age to 34.9% at 18 years of age. They also investigated the link, if any, between EBP and maternal and early life factors and childhood and adolescent blood pressure trajectories. This cohort comprised 23-year-old individuals (n=1,540; 49% men). Maternal or early life factors were noted to be associated only with greater linear growth from birth to 2 years of age, which conferred a 19% increased risk. A 77% lower risk of EBP per SD was noted for women. A remarkably increased risk of EBP in early adulthood was observed among those within the highest systolic and diastolic blood pressure trajectories. Overall, risk for EBP in adulthood may be set in childhood and adolescence.