Why Doctors Want Children Screened for High Blood Pressure from Age Seven The latest national guidelines from Australia's Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Edith Cowan University highlight a disturbing trend: high blood pressure is no longer just an adult disease, but increasingly affects children as young as seven.
An estimated 22,000 to 44,000 Australian children live with significant hypertension, forcing the medical community to confront a major blind spot in pediatric medicine.
For decades, pediatricians focused on childhood diseases like measles and mumps, while ignoring growing evidence of high blood pressure among kids.