Blood Pressure in Children

Many people don’t understand that healthy blood pressure in children is as important as it is in adults. The problem is that you cannot simply say, “A child’s blood pressure should be 80 over 120. A child’s healthy blood pressure range changes as they age, so just because two children have the same blood pressure doesn’t mean that they both have healthy blood pressure readings. It’s important to learn about blood pressure in children and realize that high blood pressure can be devastating in children, too.

Understanding Blood Pressure in Children

There is a study that suggested that one percent of junior high students suffer from high blood pressure. This is an old study and there aren’t many current numbers about how many children may be suffering from high blood pressure. The problem is that most children never have any signs of symptoms of high blood pressure, which is why it is often referred to as the “silent killer”.

High blood pressure in children is serious business because children who experience high blood pressure are more likely to have it when they are adults, too. Many children begin to experience changes in their tissues and to their organs early on in life, and this can have devastating consequences later on in life. Many children who have one high blood pressure reading will not experience it again, but there are many children who will continue have high blood pressure readings time and time and again.

It’s important to pay attention to high blood pressure in children because almost all high blood pressure in children less than 15 years old is due to a disease or condition that needs medical attention. In children over 15 years, 25% of the cases of high blood pressure were due to disease. Most of these diseases and conditions are treatable and curable.

Screening for high blood pressure in children needs to start at the age of three, according to the American Heart Association. This will help doctors to determine what children are at risk and even help to treat curable or treatable conditions and diseases early on instead of waiting for them to progress. The sooner in life high blood pressure starts the more adverse affects that can be associated with it. It’s important to have your child’s blood pressure checked at every doctor’s appointment, which should take place at least once a year or at the very least, once every two years.