The average blood pressure for American children aged between 8 to 17 has increased over the past 10 years. This implies that these children are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life.
According to a survey conducted between 1988 and 1994, the average systolic blood pressure (the top number) in children has increased by 1 point, while the diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) has jumped more than 3 points in children.
Every increase of 1 to 2 units in systolic blood pressure raises a child's risk of having high blood pressure when he reaches early adulthood by 10 percent. The number of high blood pressure patients may hence rise significantly over the next 20 years as these children grow older.
It was also noted that excess body weight, unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity should be responsible for this increase in blood pressure in children and teens. Therefore, multiple levels of interventions are necessary to restrict the trend of rising blood pressure among young Americans.
Children and teens who already have high blood pressure should discuss with their doctors about sustainable lifestyle changes that would enable them to lose weight and exercise more.
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