High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke in adulthood. Children of all ages can have high blood pressure too. The American Heart Association recommends that all children age 3 and older have yearly blood pressure measurements. Early detection of high blood pressure will improve health care of children. Some symptoms of high blood pressure can include:
A blood pressure reading has two numbers. The upper number measures the pressure in your child’s arteries when the heart beats (systolic pressure). The lower number measures the pressure in your child’s arteries between beats (diastolic pressure). A child’s sex, age and height are used to determine blood pressure percentiles. If your child’s blood pressure is extremely high, than your physician may want to run other tests such as:
Ultrasound of the Kidneys
Echocardiogram to measure blood flow through the heart
High blood pressure in children younger than 10 years old is usually caused by another medical condition such as heart or kidney diseases such as secondary hypertension. During a routine visit to our pediatrician last year, my 13 year-old daughter had a high blood pressure reading. After numerous tests she was diagnosed with a condition called Fibro muscular Dysplasia (FMD) which is a disease that can cause narrowing of arteries in the kidneys, the carotid arteries supplying the brain, and less commonly, the arteries of the abdomen. In individuals with FMD, the cells in the walls of the arteries undergo abnormal growth. As a result the inner passage of the vessels may become narrowed making blood flow difficult causing high blood pressure.
High blood pressure in children can also develop for the same reasons it does in adults. Being overweight, eating a poor diet and not exercising. Some children inherit the tendency from one or both parents who may have high blood pressure. According to The American Heart Association, high blood pressure is more frequent and more severe in families of African Americans than among Caucasians. Researchers don’t fully understand the reasons why.
Children who have high blood pressure are likely to continue to have high blood pressure as adults unless they begin treatment early. Lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet consisting of low sodium products (children should have no more than 1,200 mg of sodium a day), and exercising more (most children need up to 60 minutes a day of physical activity), can help reduce high blood pressure in children. Some children may need to take a special low dose blood pressure medicine as well.
If you are concerned about your child’s risk for high blood pressure, you should talk to your health care provider.