Hypertension is rising among children and adolescents worldwide, +7.2% year-on-year for Monday, August 4th.

High blood pressure from childhood: a global study published in JAMA Pediatrics reports that pediatric hypertension rates are rising worldwide, with sustained hypertension (i.e., hypertension present on multiple measurements) showing a significant annual increase of 7.2% from 2006 to 2021. 3.89% of children and adolescents suffer from sustained hypertension, and 11.85% suffer from occasional hypertension, highlighting that pediatric hypertension is a growing public health problem. The study was conducted in the United States and China, at Dartmouth College and Kunming Medical University, respectively. Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all published studies to estimate the global prevalence of hypertension in children and adolescents. Cases were classified as either sustained hypertension or occasional hypertension.

Sustained hypertension was defined as elevated blood pressure confirmed on three or more distinct occasions, while occasional hypertension was based on a single screening visit.

The researchers included original studies conducted on children and adolescents under the age of 19 that reported the prevalence of hypertension in the general population. Among the 3,609,065 children and adolescents included in the analysis, 16,328 had sustained hypertension and 538,735 had occasional hypertension. The rates were significantly higher in children and adolescents who were obese or overweight: 16.35% of obese children had hypertension; 6.79% of overweight children had hypertension. Among normal-weight children, 2.57% had hypertension.

Furthermore, researchers observed an increasing trend over time: sustained hypertension increased at an annual rate of 7.20% between 2006 and 2021; occasional hypertension showed an estimated increase of 0.33% per year between 1987 and 2022. Sustained hypertension was most common in the Western Pacific region (5.33%). Furthermore, rates were highest in wealthy countries (4.87%). Occasional hypertension was most prevalent in the Western Pacific (13.16%) and African regions (12.35%), while the lowest prevalence was recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean region (9.32%). Rates were also highest in wealthy countries (13.08%).