Your Child Cannot Be Overlooked for Blood Pressure

Don’t you think it’s good to get your child’s blood pressure checked every fortnight? You must if there are some doubts with his health conditions or something you know may lead to high pressure of blood in the arteries. Generally a normal child doesn’t require any blood pressure test but National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on Children recommended that they need screening of blood pressure as soon as the child attains three years or more. However, before undergoing the treatment, it has to be determined if the baby had premature birth, born smaller than normal or he/she is undergoing any medications which may rise the blood pressure to some extent.

It is also important that you should know the standards of normal blood pressure in children to determine whether it is normal or not.

Age three: A three year child must have a blood pressure value of 107/69 mm of Hg. More than that needs immediate attention of a doctor.

From 5years to 10 years: The normal blood pressure in children between this age group is 109/69 mm Hg. At this growing stage you should pay the attention to the child’s health the most.

From Age 10 to 12/13 years: Generally children of this age group have 117/75 mm of Hg as normal blood pressure. It is almost near to the normal adult. After twelve or thirteen years of age, the blood pressure of adolescents, till they are 18, vary between the 115-120/75-80 mm Hg mark.
The normal blood pressure in children may be disturbed if they are overweight, undergoing medications, have diabetes type 2 or have malnutrition. The pressure also deviates if the child is physically less active. At times the height and gender of the child also matters. According to NHBPEP, boys generally have higher normal blood pressure than girls of the same age and in some cases taller children also show the same variation.