According to a recent Health Canada study, high blood pressure (HBP) is rare in children (two percent). “We still need to be concerned about HBP in kids,” says Dr. Ian Janssen, the study’s author and associate professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. “The longer you have it, the earlier you’ll develop other problems like heart attacks.” HBP in children is not just caused by obesity. Other underlying causes, including hormonal abnormalities, cardiac and kidney problems, could be at play.

Dr. Christina Templeton, pediatric cardiologist in St. John’s, and board member of the Canadian Paediatric Society, suspects high-sodium diets are also to blame. “A lot of parents are surprised to learn that their child has hypertension,” she says. “They are also surprised to learn that all children should have their blood pressure measured at their annual physical starting at age three.” Recently, concerns have been raised that physicians are not measuring kids’ blood pressure as often as they should and, in some cases, are not equipped to take small children’s blood pressure. This could lead to misdiagnosis and failed opportunities to treat the disease, which may increase the risk of heart disease later in life.

what you can do:

• Remind your doctor to check your child’s blood pressure starting at age three. “There are clearly defined ranges for children,” says Dr. Templeton, adding that a healthy blood pressure rate varies by age and height in children (unlike in adults, where there is a standard acceptable rate). Two good examples are 109 over 61 for a three-year-old boy of average height and 108 over 70 for a six-year-old girl of average height.
• Make sure your doctor is using a cuff suitable for children, and confirm that he or she is not “rounding down” numbers, which can throw off the results, says Janssen.
• Stay healthy by checking food labels and cutting back on salt. Children aged one to three should consume no more than 1,000 mg/day; kids four to eight, 1,200 mg/day and kids nine and up, 1,500 mg/day. (One hot dog or two ounces of Goldfish crackers contain approximately 500 mg of sodium each.) And keep kids active with at least 90 minutes of exercise a day.
• Lifestyle changes are the first line of treatment when underlying conditions are ruled out. When that fails, medication may be considered, adds Dr. Templeton.