什么是高血压?

高血压是指血压持续升高, meaning it is diagnosed when one's blood pressure is higher than normal on repeated measurements over time. In childhood and adolescence, blood pressure normally increases with age and height. So, 孩子的正常血压值每年都会改变, 就像他们的身高和体重的正常值会改变一样.

A child or adolescent is diagnosed with hypertension when their average blood pressure is at or above the 95th percentile for their age, 在三次或三次以上的访问中多次测量性别和身高.

儿童真的会得高血压吗?

是的，儿童高血压的发病率正在上升. Over the last 30 to 40 years, pediatric hypertension in the United States has increased fourfold. 目前有4个.5%或3%.美国有3400万儿童患有这种疾病. Recent American Heart Association heart disease and stroke statistics suggest the number affected may be higher, estimating that 15 percent of adolescents have abnormal blood pressure.

While the reason for the increase in pediatric hypertension is not entirely clear, 许多人认为这是由于巧合 肥胖 疫情. Since 1980, the prevalence of 肥胖 among children and adolescents has almost tripled. Thirty-two percent of children in the United States are now overweight or obese. 进一步, 当只考虑这群高危儿童时, the estimated proportion of children afflicted with hypertension is much greater, 从20%到47%不等.

我如何知道我的孩子是否患有高血压?

Your child should have his or her blood pressure measured at least once yearly, 最理想的是在每次就诊时. 如果你孩子的血压在90百分位或以上, 测试应重复三次, ideally by manual auscultation (using a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff inflated by hand). If the average of these three measurements is at or above the 95th percentile, your child should return to his or her health care provider for repeat measurements to confirm that their blood pressure is high. If the average blood pressure is less than the 95th percentile but greater than or equal to the 90th percentile (or greater than or equal to 120/80), then your child is prehypertensive and is at risk for developing hypertension. He or she should return in six months for repeat blood pressure measurements to screen for the development of hypertension.

Any child with an average blood pressure at or above the 95th percentile from multiple readings taken over several visits has hypertension.

超重会影响孩子的血压吗?

是的. Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be hypertensive. 除了, being overweight is sometimes the sole cause of a child or adolescent being hypertensive. Individuals who are overweight are also more likely to have other risk factors for heart disease like high cholesterol, 糖尿病 左心室肥厚(心脏异常增厚). It is for this reason that ALL children with hypertension should develop heart healthy behaviors.

为什么患有高血压的儿童必须去看肾病专家?

Hypertension in children is often a symptom of another condition or illness. 正因为如此, all children with hypertension should undergo an evaluation to search for an underlying cause. Kidney disease is a main cause of high blood pressure and hypertension in children, which is why nephrologists are the providers who evaluate and treat this condition in children.

Children who are diagnosed with hypertension should undergo blood and urine testing and kidney and bladder imaging, 还有心脏成像.

如何治疗儿童高血压?

Treatment of hypertension in children should focus on the underlying cause and on the institution of a heart healthy lifestyle. Children and their families should adopt a lifestyle that includes the following:

• 如果超重，体重会下降
• 日常有氧运动:
  • Aim for 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous activity every day — choose an activity that gets your heart pumping like running, 足球, 网球或开合跳.
• 最少的久坐活动:
  • Limit activities such as computer/video/tablet games and TV watching to less than two hours per day.
• 每天定时摄入新鲜蔬菜、水果和低脂乳制品
• 尽量少喝或不喝含糖饮料;
  • 不要喝果汁、苏打水和甜茶等没有热量的饮料.
  • 增加饮水量.
• 避免高盐食物;
  • 目标是每天摄入不超过1500毫克钠.
  • 把盐瓶从桌子上拿下来!
• 选择低胆固醇食物:
  • 将胆固醇摄入量限制在每天300毫克以下.
• 停止吸烟.

Some children will require medication to treat their blood pressure as well. Children who require blood pressure medication are those with a secondary cause identified, 有高血压症状者, those who also have a diagnosis of 糖尿病 or evidence of organ damage from the hypertension (i.e., left ventricular hypertrophy — abnormal heart thickening) and those who continue to have hypertension after six months of implementing lifestyle changes.

我可以做些什么来防止我的孩子患上高血压?

Because hypertension in children is often secondary to an underlying disease or condition, hypertension can often only be prevented in as much as the underlying condition can be prevented. 在许多其他情况下, hypertension can be prevented by adhering to a heart healthy lifestyle that includes a low-fat, 富含水果和蔬菜的低钠饮食, 有规律的身体活动, 不吸烟，保持健康的体重.