Hypertension in Children and Adolescents

In brief Once a physician has identified elevated blood pressure in a young patient, the first focus should be on lowering it through nonpharmacologic measures, such as reduction of dietary sodium, weight loss, and exercise. Epidemiologic studies indicate that exercise can be a clinically useful treatment. However, strenuous exercise may be contraindicated for some children who have hypertension, including those who have markedly elevated blood pressure at rest or with maximal exercise and those who have target-organ disease. Physicians must evaluate the safety of exercise for such children.