More Kids/Teens may be Diagnosed with Hypertension due to updated guidelines

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its blood pressure guidelines for children on Monday, lowering what constitutes abnormally high blood pressure, or hypertension, in kids and teens.

Stricter standards mean more children will likely be diagnosed with hypertension because the previous guidelines did not include “normal-weight” children.

Before, the guidelines only included overweight children, which skewed the numbers higher because obese children often have higher blood pressure. Now hypertension in kids will be judged against kids in their weight class.

“These guidelines offer a renewed opportunity for pediatricians to identify and address this important — and often unrecognized — chronic disease in our patients,” said Dr. David Kaelber, co-chair of the committee that developed the new guidelines.

With the updated guidelines, doctors will be able to catch hypertension in normal-weight children sooner, which will lead to the identification of underlying causes and recommendations for lifestyle changes.

According to the Academy, about 3.5% of kids and teens have abnormally high blood pressure in the U.S. — a number that has been steadily growing since the late 1980s. As with adults, hypertension is a “silent” disease in children and, left untreated, can lead to kidney and heart problems later in life.

This is the first time since 2004 that pediatric guidelines for hypertension have changed. With hypertension in kids steadily rising over the years, doctors were under pressure to update them.

Prevention methods of hypertension in children include a balanced diet, avoiding high sodium foods, regular sleep, not smoking and a minimum of 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise.