Underestimated risk hypertension in children more frequently

More and more children are suffering from hypertension
High blood pressure (hypertension) is increasingly common in children and adolescents today. The health consequences are often underestimated, warns the Foundation for Child Health.

High blood pressure is becoming increasingly common in children, says the Foundation for Child Health. Above all, overweight, lack of exercise and, apparently, the intensive use of the Internet are to blame for the alarming development. The risk of hypertension in children is often underestimated.

More and more children are suffering from hypertension, with present overweight is often the cause. (Photo: kwanchaichaiudom - fotolia.com)

Hypertension is an underestimated health risk
According to the experts, high blood pressure constitutes one of the most important risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis) and its dangerous consequences such as heart attack, stroke and circulatory disorders. The risk of chronic kidney failure also increases. Especially treacherous in hypertension is "that he often causes no complaints for a long time and therefore often too late recognized and treated." The information of the Munich pediatrician PD Dr. med. med. According to Bärbel Lange-Sperandio, childhood hypertension was once thought to be a rare condition most likely to affect children with congenital diseases of the kidneys, heart and blood vessels. Also, there have been rarer cases where the cause was disturbances in the hormone balance or a family burden.

Threatening organ damage due to high blood pressure
For some time now, according to Dr. Lange-Sperandio, however, is also increasingly diagnosed with high blood pressure in children who do not suffer from these organic illnesses. "The explanation then provides the balance: Most of these children are too fat," says the expert. Studies have shown that the level of blood pressure in childhood and adolescents significantly influences the development of high blood pressure in adulthood, according to the Communication of the Foundation Child Health. And with prolonged existence, the hypertension could damage the vessels and organs of the child. If left untreated, heart and kidney diseases or even a stroke may be threatened even in young adulthood.

Only rarely do symptoms appear early
According to the Foundation, the early detection of high blood pressure in children is often difficult because the high blood pressure in the early stages causes little discomfort and sometimes, especially in childhood, the symptoms are completely absent. "Hypertension does not hurt. The child does not feel ill and does not make a sick impression. " Long-Sperandio. Therefore, even a massively elevated blood pressure in children often go unnoticed for a long time. According to the expert, "only rarely" symptoms such as "headache, dizziness, nosebleeds, tinnitus, rapid fatigue or sleep disturbances" are to be recognized as possible indications.

Regular checks of blood pressure demanded
In order to diagnose high blood pressure in children at an early stage, the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) recommends that pediatricians and family physicians should regularly check the blood pressure of all children and adolescents from the age of 3, reports the Foundation Child Health. For particularly vulnerable children, the blood pressure must be measured even more frequently. At risk are "children with obesity, children with high blood lipid levels, children whose family has high blood pressure, as well as children whose parents suffered a heart attack before the age of 60 or a stroke before the age of 70" assess.

Measuring blood pressure in toddlers often difficult
Most of the blood pressure is measured with an inflatable rubber cuff on the upper arm (in smaller children on the lower leg), but the right blood pressure in children can be determined much more difficult than in adults, explains Dr. med. Lange Sperandio: The circumference and length of the upper arms are different in children and the pediatrician must use different width pressure cuffs. Also mood of the child has influence on the measurement result. With troubled and screaming children the readings would often be too high, reports the expert. Here the doctor needs a lot of patience and usually also the help of the mother. If a suspicious finding, the measurement must be repeated several times.

Treatment of high blood pressure
If a high blood pressure is detected, according to the Foundation Child Health measures to change the lifestyle, especially a reduction in the overweight, come first. Here the most important recommendation is a conversion of the diet on more bread, cereals and cereals, potatoes, rice, vegetables and fruits, rather moderate amounts of milk and dairy products, meat and sausage, fish and eggs as well as an economical consumption of oils, fats and salt , Beverages with high sugar content, such as sodas and cola drinks, energy drinks, as well as undiluted fruit juices should be avoided and tap water should be preferred.

Sufficient movement especially important
Furthermore, improving the physical and emotional condition of children and adolescents through intensive, daily exercise of at least 60 minutes a day is particularly important, emphasizes. Long-Sperandio. According to the latest data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), in Germany today only 27.5 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of three and 17 are physically active for at least 60 minutes every day. The lack of exercise increases the risk of obesity and hypertension. The link between insufficient physical activity and elevated blood pressure has been shown by a study by Spanish researchers in the EU study IDEFICS. Thus, children who had moved less than 60 minutes a day, 53 percent more frequently suffered from increased blood pressure.

The treatment of hypertension can be done with a range of drugs that can be used in principle according to the Foundation Child Health also in children and adolescents. Most high-pressure medicines are well tolerated and as effective in children and adolescents as they are in adults. Important, however, is the reliability of the intake, which often hapers.

Media usage a risk factor
A significant role in the development of obesity and the associated high blood pressure risk plays according to the experts often the intensive use of screen media and the Internet. She has proven effects on the body weight of children, Professor Wolfgang Ahrens of the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology Bremen quoted by the Foundation for Child Health. The IDEFICS study, coordinated by his institute, examined the relationships between diet, lifestyle and social determinants and overweight development in children between the ages of two and nine in more than 11,000 children in eight European countries.

The study found that with each additional hour a child spends a day watching television, the odds of belonging to the overweight group increases by 22 percent. The risk is increased by 33 percent when a TV is in the nursery. The influence of smartphones on the development of obesity and blood pressure is comparably negative. In a study by US researchers, it has been shown that an intensive Internet use (defined as a use of more than two hours a day) was associated with a dramatically increased risk of hypertension and obesity. The media use of children therefore has a significant impact on the risk of obesity and high blood pressure. (Fp)