Fueled largely by a massive increase in the incidence of childhood obesity, more children are developing high blood pressure. Researchers combing vast federal health information databases showed that between 1963 and 2002, the number of children suffering from early high blood pressure and later, more severe forms of the disease, rose by a combined 3.3%. In direct numbers, that percentage increase means that about 400,000 more children are affected by the disease nationwide.
Dr. Rebecca Din-Dzietham and her colleagues, who co-wrote the new study to be published later this month in the journal Circulation, found a strong correlation between the rate of childhood obesity and childhood high blood pressure. Between the early 60s and 1980, childhood obesity increased slowly, then began a rapid rise after 1980. The number of childhood hypertension cases followed a similar trend, suggesting that the two growing health problems are related.
Along with the aging of the baby boomer population, an increase in preventable childhood illness represents a severe threat to the healthcare system in the United States. Children with "adult" diseases ultimately require a lifetime of expensive care and monitoring, which is a serious problem for the already strained and expensive healthcare system. Taking steps to prevent these diseases in children is of vital importance in safeguarding not only the health of the nation, but the future of the health care system.
The study, which will be published September 25th, found the largest increases in high blood pressure rates among early teens.
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