Too many parents are seeing a substantial increase in the incidence of high blood pressure, in children while wondering if they should be concerned about this. Hypertension or high blood pressure isn't an age-specific disease that happens to people from any specific age-group.
This is a medical condition that develops as a result of sedentary lifestyle that is so often observed among children lately.
Unfortunately the consequences of high blood pressure in childhood are too serious to be left alone and not to take appropriate care of. When left untreated it may result in fatal consequences and hence must be dealt with immediately post diagnosis.
The latest studies show that short-term hypertension reduces the ability to concentrate in school and is affecting the test scores of the child. But it doesn't stop there and over time, elevated blood pressure puts teenager at risk for serious ailments and even health complications such as stroke, heart attack and kidney damage, when some of them could be deadly.
When healthy habits are inculcated in a child at a tender age, these habits become ingrained into the child's character later on. This way they will be retained throughout the entire life as a basic way of life that helps in promoting health and helps prevent illnesses.
There are good reasons why we see more and more children developing hypertension in childhood. The unhealthy lifestyles of parents themselves become ingrained in their children and unhealthy habits of parents are copied by their children also.
What good it can do to child plopping themselves in front of the tube night after night? And... what about pizza for dinner? Or... even driving a child to the store, located just a few blocks away, rather than taking a short walk.
It's here and it's a fact: this new lifestyle is taking a horrible toll on the health of the most precious people in our life: our children.
So what must we as good parents do? It's not that simple at all. Now at this point we have to put more thought and pre-planning to make things happen. What we have to do is to start spending more time with our children. Instead of laying on the couch and watch Television, family activities such as going for a short walks can be the best thing to do.
Even then we should gently encourage them to become more active: to run around, ride a bike, play ball or do whatever they like just to be more active... just to take a part in more physical activities.
Also major changes in diet should take place: offering healthy treats such as an orange or banana instead of a candy bar or chips can do wonders to the health of our children in long run. Drinking tap water is healthier then drinking of sodas loaded with caffeine, sugar and sodium. Additionally, cooking nutritious low in fat and sodium meals can be healthier, than eating pre-packaged food.
These kinds of lifestyle changes will not be that easy at first as they require changing our own habits and more work and efforts on our part to take a better care of our children's health, but the good news is that this will pay dividends for you and your children on long term.
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