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High Blood Pressure: Not Just an Adult Problem (posted August 20, 2025).png)
By Adam Behnke, Communications Specialist for Brown County Public Health
August is Hypertension in Youth Awareness Month, a chance to spotlight a growing public health issue. Once considered an adult condition, high blood pressure is now affecting more children and teens. This puts them at risk for serious heart problems later in life. While hypertension can be influenced by genetics and underlying health issues, it’s also linked to changeable lifestyle factors like poor diet, lack of exercise and obesity. This edition of the Healthy Herald will define hypertension in kids and teens, look at the current trends and statistics, explore risk factors and symptoms, and detail what parents can do to help their loved ones build heart-healthy habits.
Not Just an Adult Problem
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Both mean the same thing: The force of blood pushing against the walls of your body’s arteries is consistently too high. High blood pressure is often called a ‘silent killer’ because it can do damage to the heart and brain before any obvious symptoms appear.
We usually think of high blood pressure as an adult issue, but children and teens can have it too. In fact, doctors now know that kids can develop hypertension, even if they look healthy on the outside. Until recently, many doctors didn’t even check the blood pressure of children who showed no signs of high blood pressure, so the condition often went unnoticed.
Developing high blood pressure at a young age means that the condition can start harming the body that much earlier. As time passes, high blood pressure can strain the heart and damage blood vessels in organs like the kidneys and eyes. The longer hypertension is not brought under control, the more harm it can do. Kids with hypertension are more likely to become adults with hypertension, and research shows that even mildly high blood pressure in childhood can lead to heart and vessel changes by the time those kids reach their 20s. As with many health conditions, identifying and addressing the problem early can protect someone’s long-term health.
Statistics and Trends
How common is hypertension in children? Among U.S. children and teens, up to 5% have consistently high blood pressure, and as many as 18% have elevated blood pressure (defined as blood pressure above the normal range). This means nearly 1 in 20 kids has high blood pressure, and almost 1 in 5 has readings that are higher than what would be preferred by their doctor.
According to one Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis, about 4% of children ages 12–19 had hypertension in the mid-2010s under updated guidelines. When you include the numbers of those with slightly elevated levels, roughly 15% of teens had either elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Experts are identifying more cases in current times because of updated guidelines and increased awareness.
One of the main reasons there’s more awareness about hypertension in children and teens is the rise in childhood obesity. Over the past 30 years, childhood obesity in the U.S. has unfortunately doubled to now affect nearly 20% of kids. Weighing more often leads to higher blood pressure. In Wisconsin, about 15% of children were classified as obese in data from the mid-2010s. In the WIC program, 31% of 2–4-year-olds are overweight or obese. While corresponding blood pressure data is limited (because most Wisconsin data is about adults), one can assume thousands of state children and teens could be affected by high or elevated blood pressure. Public health efforts in the state are mirroring a nationwide emphasis on early prevention and blood pressure screening for youth to improve these numbers.
Common Risk Factors and Symptoms
There are many factors that can contribute to high blood pressure in kids and teens, but the most common ones are lifestyle choices that can be adjusted for better outcomes. Like many health problems, hypertension can be improved through exercise, diet, and maintaining a healthy weight.
- Excess body weight is one of the leading risk factors for high blood pressure in young people. Children and teens who are overweight or obese are much more likely to have hypertension than those at a healthy weight. Up to 25% of youth who are overweight or obese have high blood pressure. As one might expect, the increase in childhood hypertension has closely followed the rise in childhood obesity.
- A poor diet that is high in salt can directly contribute to higher blood pressure, because salt causes the body to retain water and put extra pressure on the walls of the blood vessels. Many kids consume excess salt through processed snacks, fast food, and canned foods. Diets high in sugary drinks and junk foods can lead to weight gain, which also raises risk. Not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and other potassium-rich foods (which can help counteract salt) may worsen the risk for hypertension.
- Being inactive makes it harder to maintain a healthy weight and a strong heart. Regular exercise helps keep blood vessels and the heart in good shape and pumping blood more efficiently. Kids who spend a lot of time sitting down, say to play video games or watch TV, and rarely get active are at higher risk for developing high blood pressure.
- Family history plays a role. If a child has one or more close relatives who developed high blood pressure before age 60, that child’s risk of hypertension is about double compared to another kid. Parents with hypertension should be especially mindful of their kids’ blood pressure.
- Underlying health issues can sometimes cause high blood pressure as a “secondary” issue. Kidney disease is a common example. The kidneys help regulate blood pressure, so kidney problems can cause hypertension. Heart defects, certain hormone or endocrine disorders, and even sleep apnea can also lead to high blood pressure in children.
- Other factors that may contribute to hypertension in children are stress and the environment. Chronic stress or anxiety might lead to temporary blood pressure spikes and, over time, unhealthy coping behaviors. Newer research suggests severe childhood stress can have long-term effects on heart health. Being exposed to tobacco smoke, or vaping, is another factor because nicotine can raise blood pressure and heart rate. Teens who smoke or frequently inhale secondhand smoke may have higher risk for hypertension.
Prevention Tips for Families
Helping children develop heart-healthy habits can prevent high blood pressure or help bring it down. During Hypertension in Youth Awareness Month, families are encouraged to try these tips, and stick to them long-term:
- Schedule regular health screenings for their children.
- Promote daily physical activity and healthy eating habits.
- Limit screen time and encourage outdoor play.
- Educate kids and teens about the importance of heart health.
Learning that your kid has high blood pressure or is at risk for it can be upsetting but try to approach it as a team effort rather than something scary. Encourage your child to focus on the positive and avoid making weight or health a source of shame or stress. Emphasize how the whole family will be adopting these habits to be healthier and to keep everyone’s heart strong. Kids are more likely to stick to new routines when they feel supported and see that it’s about living better and not a punishment.
By teaching our kids about the importance of heart health when they are young, we can set them up for a lifetime of better health. If you lead by example and take care of your heart now, they have a role model to follow that helps protect their future, and the future of our Brown County community.
Stay Healthy, Brown County!
Resources
https://www.nationalforum.org/awareness-months-2025/#HHS
https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/children.html
https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-weight-growth/tips-parents-caregivers/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/family-action/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/pdfs/mm6727a2-H.pdf
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/know-your-risk-factors-for-high-blood-pressure/high-blood-pressure-in-children
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/09/05/1-in-7-kids-in-us-may-have-blood-pressure-thats-higher-than-normal
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/12-7817%20children-high-blood-pressure-508.pdf
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/heart/Pages/Heart-Disease.aspx
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/physical-activity/stateplan/childcare.htm
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/Hypertension/WI
https://childrenswi.org/medical-care/herma-heart/programs/healthy-hearts-program