Objective To investigate influence factors of childhood essential hypertension and provide scientific evidence for prevention and management of the disease. Methods Relevant studies were searched using PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, Ovid, CNKI and VIP from January 2007 to December 2011. STATA 11 was applied for meta-analysis. After heterogeneity analysis, influence factors (OR with 95%CI) were estimated using fixed or random effect models. Sensitivity analyses were used for evaluating the robustness of the results. Publication bias was assessed by Egger’s test and funnel plot. Results A total of 13 studies involving 4 278 cases and 37 230 controls were included. The pooled OR and its 95%CI of different factors associated with hypertension among children were: gender (male) 1.283 (1.063 to 1.549), age 1.013 (0.975 to 1.052), overweight 2.622 (1.985 to 3.464), obesity 3.730 (2.299 to 6.051), waist circumstance 1.060 (1.036 to 1.085), family history 1.189 (0.956 to 1.480), and frequency of physical activities 0.584 (0.460 to 0.742). Conclusion Current results indicate that gender (male), overweight, obesity, waist circumstance are risk factors of hypertension among children, while frequency of physical activities is protective factor.