A scientific study revealed that the incidence of high blood pressure in children and adolescents has doubled over the past 20 years.
According to a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, which specializes in pediatric and adolescent medicine, 3% of children suffered from high blood pressure in 2000. By 2020, it had risen to 6%, affecting an estimated 114 million people under the age of 19.
The research team from the Scottish University of Edinburgh and the Chinese University of Zhejiang stated that the most important cause of high blood pressure in young people is obesity, as 20% of children who suffer from obesity also complain of high blood pressure, an 8-fold increase compared to those who do not suffer from the problem of being overweight.
The researchers also found that 9% of children have hidden symptoms of high blood pressure, meaning that it appears normal when measured by a doctor, but it rises again at other times.
It turns out that 8% of young people have what is known as pre-hypertension symptoms, meaning that their blood pressure is higher than normal levels, which may lead to full-blown disease in later stages of life.
The study was based on analyzing the results of 96 research papers that included more than 443,000 children from 21 countries.
One of the participating researchers stated that these results “sound the alarm for those in charge of health care services,” adding in statements to the “Health Day” website, which specializes in medical research, that “the good news is that improving follow-up mechanisms and precautionary efforts to prevent the disease can help change this trend.”