Trends in the prevalence of hypertension among children and adolescents during 2000-2014

Hypertension has been cited as a major risk factor of morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular diseases and it is considered a public health problem worldwide. There is a lack of information regarding the real prevalence of hypertension among children and adolescents because blood pressure assessment is not considered part of the routine clinical assessment in this population. The aim of this study was to analyze the reported prevalence of hypertension in children and adolescents according gender and nutritional status during the period 2000-2014. METHODS: A systematic review focused on the assessment of high blood pressure was conducted. Only original articles were selected on the basis of strict inclusion and details and reviewed by pairs. 98 studies met the inclusion criteria. Computerized searches were completed using multiple databases. RESULTS: Nutritional status strongly influences whether children are more likely to have hypertension. However, this condition is not the same for overweight children in the United States that have less hypertension than obese children or the adolescents in Asia that the same effect occur. In the case of sex, it was observed that boys in most of the regions are more likely to have hypertension, however this change in the United States and in Africa where girls suffer more of hypertension. According with the age, there are more cases of hypertension among adolescents tan in children, where Latin America reported the highest level of hypertension. CONCLUSION: The data indicated that despite differences between regions, childhood hypertension has increased in the course of 14 years and it is higher among boys (36.69%) than girls (35.87%), and is also affect by the nutritional status of individuals (37.29% normal weight, 49.49% obese and 68.55% overweight). The reporting of prevalence among children and adolescents around the world need to be improved considerably in order to diminish the inconsistences.