High Blood Pressure Facts for Kids

… Continuing …

1. Tell to your kids that it’s very important to have healthy weight! For instance, limit the amounts of time for playing computer or watching TV so thus they will more move physically to burn more calories.
2. Educate your kid that it’s also important to stick with a well-balanced diet! The dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet (DASH diet) for kids recommends eating plenty of veggies and fruits, and choosing low-fat /free-fat dairy products. It also recommends getting more healthy breads and carbohydrates such as whole grains, oatmeal, and brown rice breads. And tell her/him that it’s also important to restrict foods high in sodium!
3. And encourage your child to have regular exercise. Lack of physical activity is a risk factor of hypertension. It also can lead to obesity, especially true along with poor diet (particularly diet high in calories).
4. Work with your child’s healthcare provider to create a comprehensive health plan!

As noted before, kids with hypertension are likely to continue to get the same problem as adults if left untreated and not followed with significant changes in their lifestyle.

If the problem doesn’t improve and become chronic, their adulthood will be associated with the increased risk of kidney disease, heart problems (such as heart attack and heart failure), and stroke.

But before they reach their adulthood, there is chance for a complication to occur. Sleep apnea is pretty common complication in left untreated hypertension in children (especially for those with obesity).