High Blood Pressure In Children

A diagnosis of hypertension is made only when a person has at least three separate readings performed one to several weeks apart. While the condition is most common among adults, children can have high blood pressure too, even as infants. In fact, since the early 2000s there has been an alarming rate of increase among kids and adolescents.

Researchers found a trend of high blood pressure in children ages eight to 17 years who were overweight or obese. As kids grow, their blood pressure increases from a systolic pressure of about 70-90 in an infant to adult values in a teenager.

Among young kids, the "normal" range will depend on the child's gender, age, and height; your child's doctor will be able to compare your child's blood pressure with national norms. As the condition usually does not display any symptoms, diagnosing it in kids especially can be tricky.

Juvenile hypertension is defined as a blood pressure greater than the 95th percentile for their age, height, and gender. In other words, 95% of kids of the same age, height, and gender will have blood pressure below this number.

Although the severe form of the condition is rare in kids, even mild to moderate hypertension over time, if not treated, can cause damage to the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels.

Stressful situations can elevate the blood pressure. When the stress level goes down, the pressure returns to normal. These temporary increases in blood pressure are not considered hypertension.

A diagnosis of hypertension is made only when a person has multiple high blood pressure readings over a period of time. In children, blood pressure normally rises during growth and maturation, and varies greatly during adolescence.

Physical activity and changes in position can temporarily raise blood pressure. An increase in body weight will also cause a rise in tension. It tends to develop about 10 years after a young person becomes overweight.

It is highly recommended that children, who either have the condition or are predisposed to contracting it, quit smoking or never start. The use of tobacco can develop into long-term associated heart problems.

Kids with severe hypertension should not participate in weight- and power-lifting, bodybuilding, or strength training until their blood pressure is under control and a doctor OKs it.

Consider this: the life of living creatures is in the blood. The Bible tells us that it's sacred and was to be offered back to God, the Creator, for the atonement of sin. (Lev. 17: 11) Therefore, do not take your children's blood for granted. Take good care of it with life-sustaining nourishment for optimum life.

Maintaining Ideal Body Weight to Manage High Blood Pressure

Ideal Body Weight is the body weight someone can be deemed to have without carrying excess body fat. It is the weight of one's heart, liver, kidneys and other organs, bones, blood, skin and all essential parts of the body, plus a minimal amount of body fat.
Being the correct body weight is essential in managing high blood pressure without the use of medication, because there is a clear link between one carrying excess body fat and the propensity of developing high blood pressure.

Doctors and health authorities determine Ideal Body Weight from patient's height measurement via the universally used Body Mass Index (BMI).
Useful formulae derived from BMI for determining one's ideal body weight are as follows:

In Pounds and Inches:
Ideal Weight in Pounds = 24 x Height in inches x Height in inches divide by 703

In Metric Units:
Ideal Weight in Kilograms = 24 x Height in Metres x Height in Metres

So, for someone who is say, 5ft. 10in. (or 70 inches) tall, their ideal body weight in pounds would be calculated like this:

Ideal Weight in Pounds = 24 x 70 x 70 divided by 703 = 167Ib.

Once one's Ideal Body Weight has been determined, one should endeavour to keep one's weight there or at the very least within a few pounds of it. By doing so the rewards to one's well being is awesome, for it removes a major health risk not just for high blood pressure, but also heart disease, strokes, and musculoskeletal disorders to mention a few.

Ideal Body Weight maintenance essentially depends on a main principle, it is making a conscious decision to, and then actually feeding one's Ideal Body Weight and not the weight one may be today, unless of course one is at Ideal Body Weight. By adhering to this principle, any excess body weight one may have will gradually fall away.
Other factors effecting ideal weight maintenance are one's gender, how physically active one is and ensuring that the amount of dietary fat consumed is at a prudent level.

A human being uses up energy from digested food even if apparently nothing is being done. Energy is needed to run the cardiovascular system; the digestive system and all other base bodily functions constituting basal metabolism that are overseen by the subconscious mind. In addition, food energy (measured in calories) is required to cater for any physically activity one may undertake such as walking, going up and down stairs, or lifting things.

Someone who say, partakes in 30 - 40 minute sessions of aerobic type exercises 3 or 4 times per week, and has a physical exertion aspect to their job could be regarded as moderately active and requires extra calories to support this activity.
Someone's lifestyle is regarded as sedentary when he/she does little or no regular aerobic type exercise and perhaps has an office based job where little or no physical exertion is the order of the day. Such a person requires the least amount of daily calories per pound of Ideal Body Weight and is most likely to have body weight related high blood pressure problems.

If one is very active and for instance partakes in aerobic type exercises, like jogging, continuous swimming, or playing tennis for 40 - 60 minutes or more daily, then one requires higher amounts of calories, depending on the level of activity. People in this category are unlikely to have weight related high blood pressure problems assuming of course their dietary intake is of the correct quality and quantity.

So how does this translate into calorific requirements?

Well, from the conventions of expert nutritionists, the average moderately active man requires 15 calories per pound of Ideal Body Weight, and a sedentary life styled man requires 12 calories per pound of Ideal Body Weight.
For women the requirements are 12 and 10 calories per pound of Idea Bodyl Weight for a moderately active and sedentary life styled person respectively.
There is one other nutritional fact required, that is, 1 gram of consumed dietary fat yields 9 calories.

The Daily Calories and fat intake calculations are now very simple:

Daily Calories = (Ideal Weight in lbs) x Calories required per Ib of Ideal Weight

Daily Fat Calories = Daily Calories x 0.25

Fat Intake (in grams) = (Daily Fat Calories) divided by 9

So for our moderately active man (whose ideal weight we calculated above) of 167 Ib. the calculations simply go like this:

Daily Calories = 167 x 15 = 2505 Calories

Daily Fat Calories = 2505 x 0.25 = 626 Calories

Fat Intake (in grams) = 626 divided by 9 = 69 grams

So with these daily calories and fat intakes known, one has good dietary targets (with respect to high blood pressure and Ideal Body Weight maintenance) to aim at even if they are missed a bit on occasions. One must get used to reading the nutritional content on labels as shopping is done or finding them in published or online tables of nutrition.

One such database can be freely downloaded from http://www.kelpiesoft.com

It is surprising how quickly a feel for the nutritional content figures is developed and eventually one will not need to consult charts and tables every time something to bite into comes along.

Controlling one's calorific intake does not necessarily mean a totally restrictive diet. Generally a diet high in fruits and vegetables but low in animal fat and processed foods is a good basis to work from because fresh fruit and vegetables are relatively low in calories and fat. However, it is OK to have "the occassional treat" which may be high in calories, as long as the total calories and fat intakes for that day are not compromised.

Just be patient with as the new dietary habit develops a little at a time, in the knowledge that freedom from anti-hypertension medication is a step closer.