Children and teenagers who regularly get too few hours of sleep may be at higher risk of developing high blood pressure , new research indicates. The findings may change how doctors talk with kids and their parents about hypertension. An analysis of data from more than 500 children and teens with hypertension revealed an association between shorter-than-recommended sleep times and high blood pressure, according to the study, published Wednesday in Pediatrics.
While hypertension in kids has been declining, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 7 young people ages 12 to 19 have hypertension. The study doesn’t prove that shortened sleep times cause hypertension, but doctors don't typically think of sleep when they counsel parents about high blood pressure, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Amy Kogon, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Data for the study came from children and teens seen at a clinic at the tthe Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where Kogon is a pediatric kidney specialist. “We usually target things like diet and exercise,” Kogon said. “This is another thing parents might want to think about, particularly if the child has high blood pressure.
” Major risk factors for hypertension in children and teens include being overweight, not getting enough physical activity and a poor diet, according to the American Heart Association . The majority of middle and high school kids i.
