High blood pressure risk in children, even at the upper limit of normal weight

March 14, 2023 Read in 2 minutes Add topic to email alert Get an email when new articles are posted Enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted . " data-actionsubscribe> subscribe Your request could not be processed. Please try again later.If this issue persists, please contact us customerservice@slackinc.com. back to helio Important points: The five-year risk of developing hypertension was 26% higher among children at the high end of the average weight range compared with those at the middle range. A child's risk of high blood pressure increases by 4% for each 1-year increase in BMI. The incidence of hypertension was higher in boys and children with state-subsidized health insurance. A large study found that the risk of developing hypertension within 5 years was high, even among children at the upper end of normal weight, according to findings published in . JAMA network open. "Obesity has been debated as a major contributor to childhood hypertension for several years." Poornima Kunani, MD, A pediatrician and researcher at Kaiser Permanente Manhattan Beach Medical Office and regional leader for pediatric weight management at Kaiser Permanente Southern California told Healio. Even children with a high normal weight are at increased risk of developing high blood pressure later in life.Image: Adobe Stock Purnima Kunani "Generally," Kunani said. childhood obesity and their associated comorbidities, and how children chart over the years in terms of their relationship to BMI. We decided to begin our journey by examining the relationship, or longitudinal relationship, between BMI and blood pressure. " Kunani et al. examined data on 801,019 patients aged 3 to 17 years who were treated at Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2008 and 2015. High (60th-84th percentile) group. They also divided them by blood pressure, using different definitions of stage I and II hypertension according to age. Researchers identified 24,969 young people with high blood pressure. The most important finding was an increased risk of hypertension among underweight children who were underweight but not obese for their age. Specifically, children with baseline weights between the 60th and 84th percentiles of BMI (a range researchers consider to be the “upper end of the normal range”) were more likely to have hypertension than children with BMIs between the 40th and 59th percentiles. increased risk. There is a 26% higher risk of hypertension when weight is stable during follow-up," they wrote. "We never expected the increased risk of hypertension to be so close to what we consider a normal BMI, just below the 85th percentile for children. The incidence of hypertension per 1,000 person-years was also higher in boys (8.49; 95% CI, 8.36-8.63) compared with girls (5.52; 95% CI, 5.42-5.63) and with state-subsidized health insurance. It was higher in young people (7.91; 95). % CI 7.72-8.11) was highest in whites (7.2; 95% CI 7.02-7.38) and young Hispanics (7.19; 95% CI 7.08-7.32) compared to none (6.7; 95% CI 6.61-6.8) (IR ranged from 5.71 to 6.4) compared with other young people. Kunani said he "agreees" with AAP clinical practice guidelines that encourage doctors to measure children's blood pressure at least once a year, starting at age three. "However, our study also highlights the need for health professionals to reassess how they relate risk and how they educate families about health risk behaviors across the weight range." said Kunani. In the future, she said, she wants to find out "what puts these kids at high risk." "Is it central fat? Is it genetic? Is it... nutritionWhat exactly are the elevated risk factors? said Kunani. Add topic to email alert Get an email when new articles are posted Enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted . " data-actionsubscribe> subscribe Your request could not be processed. Please try again later.If this issue persists, please contact us customerservice@slackinc.com. back to helio Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20230314/even-weight-at-high-end-of-normal-ups-childrens-risk-for-hypertension The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article