Focus intensified on child and teen health

Legislation is introduced regarding childhood obesity while new guidelines urge physicians to check young patients' blood pressure.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. July 12, 2004.

Washington -- Children as young as 3 should have their blood pressure checked as part of a routine examination, according to new federal guidelines, so that corrective action can be taken early to rein in higher than optimal readings.

"The long-term health risks for hypertensive children and adolescents can be substantial," warned Bonita Falkner, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Blood pressure has been on the rise among children and teens, and research shows that for every 1 mm Hg to 2 mm Hg rise in systolic blood pressure, children face a 10% greater risk of developing hypertension as young adults.

Dr. Falkner chaired the National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group that updated the 1996 hypertension guidelines for children, and she would like to see all physicians measure and plot out the blood pressure readings of their young patients just as they measure and plot their heights and weights.

The updated guidelines, part of the Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents, were scheduled for publication in the July issue of Pediatrics and were previewed last spring at meetings of the Pediatric Academic Societies and the American Society of Hypertension. While the definition of hypertension for children is unchanged, the new guidelines introduce a "prehypertensive" category to serve as an early alert. Adult guidelines updated last year also included such a classification.