VIII
- High blood pressure and special cases
8.1
- High blood pressure and sport
8.2
- High blood pressure and obesity
8.3
- High blood pressure and pregnancy
8.4 - High
blood pressure and elderly
8.5 - High blood pressure and children
8.6
- High blood pressure and contraception
8.7
- Influence of hormones on high blood pressure (case of the post-menopausal
woman)
8.8 - Influence
of life style modification on blood pressure
8.5-
High blood pressure and children
The blood pressure in children is lower than that of an adult (see joined table).
We know that family history
of high blood pressure and weight can influence the level of the blood
pressure. Thus, a child who is overweight and comes from a family of
hypertensive subjects will be more easily hypertensive himself.
8.5.1- The measurement
of the blood pressure
Blood pressure can be measured
from 3 years old, by using a small cuff adapted to the circumference
of the arm. This concept is very important because a too large cuff
would underestimate the blood pressure.
8.5.2- Reference values
of the blood pressure in children
AGE
(years) |
BOYS |
GIRLS |
| Between
3 and 6 years |
113/67
mmHg |
110/68
mmHg |
| Between 6 and 10 years |
117/76
mmHg |
114/75
mmHg |
| Between 10 and 13 years |
123/82
mmHg |
122/80
mmHg |
| Between 13 and 16 years |
130/84
mmHg |
128/84
mmHg |
| More
than 16 years |
138/87
mmHg |
132/86
mmHg |
For example, 113/67 mmHg means
113 millimetres of Mercury for the maximum one (11.3) and 67 millimetres
of Mercury for the minima (6.7).
Notice that these values
are different in the boy and the girl, in very small proportions.
8.5.3- What to do when
a child has a high blood pressure?
In case of a high blood pressure
in children, the practitioner has to measure the blood pressure every
6 months, the antihypertensive drug therapy being used only in exceptional
cases.
Very often, the blood pressure
is regularized at the end of a few months or years.
| File
last modified on : 28 sep 2003 |
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