Development of Blood Pressure Norms in Children

Abstract

Assessment of blood pressure in children and adolescents, as a measure of health status, is now part of routine clinical practice. Prior to the 1970s blood pressure was not commonly measured in very young children, due to the difficulty in obtaining reliable measurements and the general belief that hypertension was a rare problem in children (1). Since measurement of blood pressure had not yet become routine, high blood pressure was detected only when significant clinical signs or symptoms were present. Due to the absence of any childhood blood pressure data on which to base an age appropriate definition of hypertension, adult criteria were the only available reference information. Based on our current knowledge on what is normal blood pressure in healthy children, we now know that the early descriptions of hypertension in the young represented only the most severe cases of childhood hypertension.