At the 24th Scientific Conference and Annual General meeting of the Nigeria Hypertension Society in Lagos, Professor Adeola Animashaun, a Paediatric Interventional Cardiologist, emphasized the need to raise awareness about measuring blood pressure in children, as some children suffer from high blood pressure.
She noted that hypertension, a condition characterized by persistently raised blood pressure in the blood vessels, often goes undetected in children due to a lack of noticeable symptoms.
Animashaun pointed out that while efforts have focused on encouraging adults to monitor their blood pressure, the importance of checking children’s blood pressure has been overlooked.
She stressed that regular blood pressure checks are crucial for children, recommending at least annual checks to facilitate early detection and management of hypertension, which is essential given the absence of noticeable symptoms.
This call to action was made during her presentation on the sub-theme “Management of Hypertension in Children”.
“In fact, guidelines say the blood pressure of any child above three years of age should be checked any time they go to the hospital for us to know their status early.
“For those that are less than three years of age, there are some of them that we also have to check early.
“Those that are born prematurely; those that have some procedure done for them around birth which we call umbilical catheterisation, and for those that have other illnesses, maybe heart problems, kidney problems.
“A major one is obesity, which is more prevalent in our environment now. Obesity is one of those conditions that comes with high blood pressure in children,” she said.
Professor Animashaun observed that the devices used to measure blood pressure in children differ from those used for adults and vary according to age.
She revealed that she conducted a nationwide survey of pediatricians to determine how many of them had access to blood pressure measurement devices specifically designed for children in their hospitals.
The survey also aimed to ascertain whether pediatricians who had these devices actually used them to measure blood pressure in their young patients.
“About 63 pediatricians from all over Nigeria responded, with the six geopolitical zones well represented.
“And in more than 50 per cent of the centres, which are majorly public hospitals, many of them don’t even have what’s used to measure blood pressure for neonates, for infants, and for younger children.
“Now, for those that have, up to one third do not even bother to check,” she noted.
Animashaun stressed that efforts should be intensified in sensitisation, training and retraining of health practitioners, and spreading the word to the community on checking blood pressure of children.
“When taking your child’s blood pressure at home, it’s important to use the correct sized cuff. A poor-fitting cuff may skew the results,” Animashaun said.
Professor Animashaun emphasized that screening children for high blood pressure enables early detection and timely intervention, which can prevent potential health complications later in life.
Regarding treatment, she recommended a two-pronged approach: firstly, modifying lifestyle factors such as diet, weight management, regular physical activity, and reducing sodium intake.
If lifestyle changes alone are insufficient to control blood pressure, she suggested that antihypertensive medication could be used as a supplementary measure to effectively manage the condition.
