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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffYour child's risk factors for high blood pressure depend on underlying health conditions, genetics or lifestyle factors.
Secondary high blood pressure
Secondary hypertension is high blood pressure that's caused by an underlying health condition. This is the type of high blood pressure that's more common in young children. Other health conditions that can cause high blood pressure include:
- Chronic kidney disease
- Polycystic kidney disease
- Heart problems, such as coarctation of the aorta
- Adrenal disorders
- Conditions affecting the kidneys, such as lupus
- Hyperthyroidism
- Pheochromocytoma, a rare tumor in the adrenal gland
- Narrowing of the artery to the kidney (renal artery stenosis)
Essential, or primary, hypertension
Essential hypertension is high blood pressure that occurs on its own, without an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure occurs more often in older children and adolescents. The risk factors for developing essential hypertension are:
- Being overweight or obese (a body mass index over 25)
- A family history of high blood pressure
- Type 2 diabetes or a high fasting blood sugar level
- High cholesterol and triglycerides
- Matoo TK. Definition and diagnosis of hypertension in children and adolescents. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2010.
- High blood pressure in children. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml?identifier=214. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- Luma GB, et al. Hypertension in children and adolescents. American Family Physician. 2006;73:1158.
- What are the signs and symptoms of high blood pressure? The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbp/HBP_SignsAndSymptoms.html. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- Hypertensive emergencies. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec07/ch071/ch071c.html. Accessed May 10, 2010.
- National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2004;114:555.
- Anglum A. Primary care management of childhood and adolescent hypertension. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. 2009;21:529.
- Flynn JT. Hypertension in the young: Epidemiology, sequelae and therapy. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2009;24:370.
- Stergiou GS, et al. Home blood pressure monitoring in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Journal of Hypertension. 2009;27:1941.
- Garin EH, et al. Treatment of systemic hypertension in children and adolescents. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2009;21:600.
- Lurbe E, et al. Management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents: recommendations of the European Society of Hypertension. Journal of Hypertension. 2009;27:17.
- Hoecker J (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 11, 2010.
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