10% of children have high blood pressure issues

The preliminary findings of a study examining the wellbeing, diet, and exercise levels of children has found that one in 10 has high blood pressure.

Early indications from the Cork Children’s Lifestyle Study are that overweight or obese children are particularly susceptible — twice as many overweight/obese children had high blood pressure compared to their normal-weight peers.

Dr Janas Harrington, of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College Cork, one of the leading researchers behind the study, said high blood pressure was a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults and children with high blood pressure were also placed at higher risk.