High Blood Pressure Rates Double Among Children & Teens

Key Takeaways

• The rate of high blood pressure among kids and teens nearly doubled in two decades

• Rates rose from around 3% to more than 6% between 2000 and 2020

• Many kids have masked hypertension and prehypertension

THURSDAY, Nov. 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The rate of kids and teens with high blood pressure worldwide nearly doubled over the past two decades, according to a startling new report.

In 2020, more than 6% of children and adolescents under 19 had high blood pressure, up from around 3% in 2000, researchers reported Nov. 12 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

Obesity is a major driver of this increase, the study found. About 19% of kids and teens with obesity have high blood pressure, versus fewer than 3% of those with healthy weight.

“The nearly twofold increase in childhood high blood pressure over 20 years should raise alarm bells for health care providers and caregivers," senior researcher Dr. Igor Rudan said in a news release. He’s director of the Center for Global Health Research at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute in Scotland.

Young people with high blood pressure have a higher risk of heart and kidney problems throughout their lives, researchers said in background notes.

"But the good news is that we can take steps now, such as improving screening and prevention efforts, to help control high blood pressure in children and reduce the risks of additional health complications in the future,” Rudan said.

For the study, researchers pooled data from 96 previous studies, including 83 with in-office blood pressure test results for nearly 444,000 kids and teens.

Results revealed that as many as 114 million young people around the world are suffering from high blood pressure. Rates among both boys and girls saw similar increases between 2000 and 2020.

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Further, more than 9% have masked hypertension – high blood pressure that only shows up with out-of-office tests, meaning the condition could be missed during regular checkups, researchers said.

Another 8% of children and adolescents have prehypertension, or elevated levels of blood pressure, the study found. The condition is especially prevalent in adolescence, affecting as many as 12% of teens.

"Childhood high blood pressure is more common than previously thought, and relying solely on traditional in-office blood pressure readings likely underestimates the true prevalence or leads to misdiagnosis of hypertension in children and adolescents,” said researcher Peige Song, a professor of public health at Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China.

“Early detection and improved access to prevention and treatment options are more critical than ever to identify children experiencing or at-risk for hypertension,” Song continued in a news release. “Addressing childhood hypertension now is vital to prevent future health complications as children transition to adulthood.”

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on high blood pressure in children and teens.

SOURCE: The Lancet, news release, Nov. 12, 2025

What This Means For You

Parents should have their children’s blood pressure checked in and out of a doctor’s office, particularly if they have obesity.