Guest Author - Jacqueline Geller

Along with the rise in obesity in children, comes a host of medical ailments that were not common events in past generations.

For example, asthma and allergies in children are more common now. Whooping cough has resurfaced after many years of being virtually absent from American society.

However, the silent epidemic that is becoming more prevalent in our children is high blood pressure. While obesity itself does not cause high blood pressure, it does encourage it. Many obese adults have high blood pressure, which means that obese children are more susceptible to it as well, particularly if there is a genetic predisposition to this on one or both sides of the family.

While reports on childhood obesity are prominent in the media, they are easy to ignore, primarily because that next step of warning people about the serious health hazards related to obesity are not mentioned at the same time.

Since high blood pressure is usually silent, even with adults, parents may not know that high blood pressure can affect their children until they make the trip for the yearly physical. Annual physicals are crucial to keeping children healthy and are available to people of all income levels. Treating high blood pressure or any other illness quickly is critical to maintaining and improving the health of the next generation.

Usually, pediatricians begin to take blood pressures in children at about three years of age. If the pediatrician does not deem this necessary, it is important for parents to speak up and ask, particularly since the child may not exhibit any symptoms.

It is also important to realize that children do not have to be overweight to have high blood pressure. They also do not HAVE to have a genetic predisposition to it either. It can be a precursor to something else going on in the child’s body.

It is easy to ignore the vague symptoms that do present with high blood pressure, primarily because they can be caused by any number of things. However, if a child complains of having a headache, being dizzy or tired, it’s time to think about making a trip to the doctor.

Headaches, dizziness and fatigue are never normal symptoms in healthy children, so if it is not high blood pressure, then something else could be going on. The child may need glasses, for example. There could be a sinus infection, a cold or any number of other things, serious or not serious, going on in your child’s body. It is important to know what and why.