Unhealthy lifestyle drives high blood pressure in children, teens

Lifestyle modification, including increased physical activity and a healthy diet, is the “most important step” in the management of cardiometabolic risk factors driving hypertension in children and teens, according to a consensus statement.

The new consensus statement focusing on hypertension in children aged 6 to 16 years, published in European Heart Journal, notes that inactivity, diets high in sugar and sodium, and excess weight account for nine in 10 cases of hypertension in children and adolescents. Read more in Healio.