Children and even young babies can have high blood pressure.  High blood pressure in children can be caused by other diseases — usually heart or kidney disease.  This is called secondary hypertension.  If the other disease is successfully treated, blood pressure usually returns to normal.

A small number of children have higher blood pressures than others, but it is unclear why.

Some children have primary or essential hypertension.  Children who are overweight usually have higher blood pressure than those who aren’t overweight.  If your child is overweight, your doctor may recommend a diet and increased exercise.

Some children inherit the tendency from one or both parents who have high blood pressure.  Additionally, blood pressures vary depending on the age of your child, as well as according to height and weight, and the gender of your child. Generally, blood pressure is low in infancy, and rises slowly as children age.  Boys’ blood pressures are usually slightly higher than girls’ are.

For example, an infant may have a quite normal blood pressure of 80/45 mm Hg, while that value in an adult is considered low.  A teenager may have a blood pressure of 110/70 mm Hg, but that could be high for a toddler.

A determination for high blood pressure is a little different with children.  Tables were recently prepared to help a physician determine when your child’s blood pressure is higher than other children’s blood pressure. There is a table for boys and a separate one for girls.  A range of blood pressure values is given based on how old and how tall your child is. According to the tables, if your child has a blood pressure that is higher than 90 to 95 percent of other boys or girls his/her age and height, then he or she may have high blood pressure.

There are many factors that contribute to children having blood pressure, similar to adults, the factors include:

• High cholesterol
• Obesity
• Inactivity
• Smoking

However with children, there are other conditions that will lead to hypertension in children.  These include:

• Illnesses – for example, the kidneys play an important role in regulating blood pressure and often have diminished ability to perform this vital task when they are diseased. Another example, a congenital heart defect may also cause high blood pressure readings. Finally, head injuries may also raise the pressure inside the brain, which affects the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure normally.
• Drugs – the use of illegal or prescription drugs, such as steroids or oral contraceptives all can lead to high blood pressure.
• Immobility, related to a chronic illness.
• Chronic or severe pain