Global rates of hypertension, or high blood pressure, in childhood and adolescence have nearly doubled since 2000, putting more kids at risk for poor health later in life.
“In 2000, about 3.4% of boys and 3% of girls had hypertension. By 2020, those numbers had risen to 6.5% and 5.8% respectively,” said Dr. Peige Song, a researcher from the School of Public Health at Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China. Song is one of the authors of a study describing the findings that published Wednesday in the journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.
Children who have hypertension could be at greater risk later on of developing heart disease –– the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, said Dr. Mingyu Zhang, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was not involved in the research.
“The good news is that this is a modifiable risk,” Song said in an email. “With better screening, earlier detection, and a stronger focus on prevention, especially around healthy weight and nutrition, we can intervene before complications arise.”
The rise in hypertension in children is likely due to many factors.
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