“Knowing which youngsters are most likely to progress to hypertension would provide the ability to target preventive interventions,” researcher Bonita Falkner, MD, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, said in a written statement. The study used data from the National Childhood Blood Pressure Database. Specifically, girls aged 15 were more likely to have higher blood pressure than those who were 13 years old. In fact, those boys who were initially heavier (as measured by body mass index) and continued to gain weight were at an increased risk of progressing to hypertension, compared with their thinner counterparts.Īmong the 4,386 girls in the study, age was more significant. The data show that the progression of prehypertension to hypertension is approximately 7% per year.Īmong the 4,147 boys in the study, weight was an important predictor of who would go on to develop high blood pressure. They found that there was a linear increase - from normal blood pressure to prehypertension to hypertension - in the percentage of adolescents classified with hypertension at the second examination. In the new study of more than 8,000 adolescents aged 13 and 15, researchers compared single blood pressure readings taken two years apart. This condition also increases your risk of developing the known complications of high blood pressure - namely heart disease and stroke. Prehypertension means that you don't have high blood pressure now but are likely to develop it in the future. If blood pressure is between 120/80 mmHg and 139/89 mmHg, it’s called prehypertension, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md. The research was presented Friday at the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH 2006) in New York City.Ī blood pressure level of 140/90 mmHg or higher is considered high. Teens with prehypertension or high blood pressure are more likely to have high blood pressure and its related complications when they grow up unless they make some changes now, a new study shows.

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