World Health Day - Prevent High Blood Pressure In Children and Adults

April 7th is World Health Day.  Every year on April 7th, the world celebrates World Health Day with thousands and thousands of events that remind us about the importance of health and how it plays such a vital role in living a productive and happy life.

You might be wondering why April 7.  Well, actually April 7th is the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) back in 1948.

The theme for this year is high blood pressure.   You might be surprised to know that children can develop high blood pressure for the same reasons as adults:  being overweight, eating a poor diet and not exercising.

This is the main reason that I wanted to highlight this.  We are not used to associating high blood pressure with kids.  But we are seeing an increase of high blood pressure due to the increased incidence of childhood obesity.  

The key fact is that high blood is preventable and with changes in habits, it can be reversed.

• blindness
• irregularities of the heartbeat
• heart failure

The risk of developing these complications is higher in the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes. One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure. The proportion increases with age.

However, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable.  We are now seeing blood pressure changes in children who are chronically obese.

The risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by:

• reducing salt intake;
• eating a balanced diet;
• avoiding harmful use of alcohol;
• taking regular physical activity;
• maintaining a healthy body weight; and
• avoiding tobacco use