Can you tell acurately if a child has high blood pressure?
My sister checked my son with her at home cuff and it showed that his blood pressure was 142 over 92. Can this be right? Is this high? He is 11, 5ft. 3" tall and 175 lbs and he carries all his weight in his belly and chest. I am extremely worried about his weight and I am very concerned about her thinking that his blood pressure is high. I will make an appointment with his physician in the morning but was curious if anyone else has delt with this?
Filed under: Diseases And Conditions
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I haven’t dealt with this before but you are very wise to have him checked out by his doctor and soon. It may be a one time thing but better to be safe than sorry.
If his upper arm is larger than 14 inches in circumference, then you need to make sure you are using the larger cuff that should come with the home testing kit, in order to get an accurate measurement. If you use the smaller one, it could appear high, in error.
If he is 5’3, and 175, he is too fat. Put him on a diet. This extra
poundage can lead to heart problems, the colesterol will clog his arteries, and the extra weight will insure that he has breathing problems after heavy exersize. Take those fries away!
ask doctor
It’s not real bad, but the numbers they would like to see are 130
Yes you can accurately tell a childs blood pressure BUT you need to use the proper cuff. If the cuff is the wrong size then the blood pressure will be inaccurate. The other possibility is that the blood pressure machine may not be accurate. This is a common problem with home machines.
I think booklovers is right. You should check it again. And sometimes if you use digital pressure pump, error can occurs because of simple move. Check it over (after 10 minute rest) .
He is overweight. With overweight kid – large belly fat, hypertension often happen (Obesity is one of the risk factors for coronary artery / vascular disease. Vascular disease induce hypertension).
142 / 92 is high for a teenage (hypertension grade 1), usually just 110 – 120 / 70 – 80.
"The risk of coronary artery disease increases with the severity of obesity especially for those with abdominal obesity . Abdominal obesity, also known as central or visceral obesity, exists when the waist to hip ratio is > 0.90 in males and > 0.85 in females. Abdominal obesity has been demonstrated to be an independent predictor of silent myocardial ischaemia in otherwise healthy asymptomatic subjects".
See his physician and ask for some diet advice (low salt and fat) or see dietician. He might need excercise too.
Dont worry for now. Avoid butter, whole milk, salt, choccolate, coke, canned food and fat.
Good luck.