The aims of this prospective cohort study were to monitor childhood blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol and link them to fetal and childhood growth. Of the 215 children recruited after delivery in a rural county of eastern Finland during 1981 and 1982, 180 (83.7%) stayed in the study until the age of seven. The measurements assessed were BP, serum cholesterol and anthropometry. Of the children originally in the highest BP quartile at the age of 6 months, 58% (systolic BP (SBP)) and 68% (diastolic BP (DBP)), respectively, remained in the same quartile until the age of 7 years; 53% (SBP) and 60% (DBP), respectively, remained in the same lowest quartile. Consequently, BP at 6 months correlated strongly with SBP (r=0.69, P