Children should be regularly screened for high blood pressure to prevent fatal midlife heart disease, experts have said.
A new study has found a link between high blood pressure at the age of 7 and up to a 50 per cent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease over the next five decades.
Currently, children in the UK are not routinely checked for blood pressure as part of a national screening programme.
But the researchers said their findings demonstrate the importance of regularly checking children’s blood pressure to help them develop heart–healthy habits early on.
The team analysed data on 38,000 children who had their blood pressures taken at the age of seven as part of a long–running US study.
Over a follow–up of an average of 54 years, they discovered children who had higher blood pressure at this age were more likely to die early from cardiovascular disease as adults by their mid–50s.
The risk was highest for children whose blood pressure measurements were in the top 10 per cent for their age, sex and height.
‘We were surprised to find that high blood pressure in childhood was linked to serious health conditions many years later,’ lead author Alexa Freedman, from Northwestern University in Chicago, said.
Experts are calling for children to be screened for high blood pressure to help prevent fatal heart disease when they reach middle–age (file image)
‘Specifically, having hypertension or elevated blood pressure as a child may increase the risk of death by 40 per cent to 50 per cent over the next five decades of an individual’s life.
‘Our results highlight the importance of screening for blood pressure in childhood and focusing on strategies to promote optimal cardiovascular health beginning in childhood.’
The findings back up previous research that found older children, with an average age of 12, who had elevated blood pressure had a higher risk of cardiovascular death by the age of 46.
‘Even in childhood, blood pressure numbers are important because high blood pressure in children can have serious consequences throughout their lives,’ Dr Freedman said.
‘It is crucial to be aware of your child’s blood pressure readings.’
Clinical practice guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend checking blood pressure at annual paediatric appointments starting at the age of three.
In the UK, however, blood pressure is only checked for children if there is a specific medical reason.
According to the UK National Screening Committee, screening is ‘not currently recommended in children’ because it is not known how many children have hypertension and the long–term effects this will have on their health.
This chart shows the normal blood pressure readings expected from birth through to adolescence
They also said an accurate test is not available for screening children and young people, and it is ‘not known how to avoid the early signs of ill health and longer–term disease in adults’.
‘Although it is common in adults, high blood pressure is much rarer in children,’ they added.
The latest findings were published in the journal JAMA and have been presented at the American Heart Association Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2025 in Baltimore.
Commenting on the study Bonita Falkner, emeritus professor of paediatrics and medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, said: ‘The results of this study support monitoring blood pressure as an important metric of cardiovascular health in childhood.’
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