Doctors call for national programme to monitor high blood pressure in UK schoolchildren
Doctors are calling for a national programme to monitor schoolchildren in the UK for high blood pressure amid rising cases of adolescent hypertension, which can lead to organ damage, strokes, and heart attacks in early adulthood.
Hypertension rates among children have nearly doubled over the past 20 years, but the UK currently has no routine testing for high blood pressure in this age group.
Early identification of hypertension in teenagers would allow general practitioners to intervene, reducing the risk of long-term organ damage and future cardiovascular disease.
Monitoring could be incorporated into the existing National Child Measurement Programme, which records height and weight at the end of primary school, or as part of a new NHS adolescent health check. Targeted screening of high-risk groups has also been proposed.
Lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, high salt intake, and obesity are linked to the rise of pediatric hypertension, with inactivity due to screen time highlighted as a significant contributor.
While most cases of pediatric hypertension in young children stem from other medical issues, a growing share are attributed to excess weight, unhealthy diets, and lack of exercise.
Data from Canada show pediatric hypertension increased from 1.3% in the 1990s to 6% in the 2010s, with more children displaying pre-hypertension. Hypertensive teens have about a threefold higher risk of kidney disease or failure over 14 years.
Experts urge urgent action: Professor Manish Sinha supports school-based blood pressure measurements; Professor Igor Rudan emphasizes the importance of understanding long-term outcomes; Dr Emily Haseler warns that the rise in hypertension will place additional burdens on the NHS; and Professor Ian Wilkinson calls for monitoring in secondary schools alongside public health messaging on salt reduction and obesity prevention.
