NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite recommendations to check
children's blood pressure, pediatricians may often skip it, a
U.S. study suggests. Using government survey data, researchers
found that pediatricians failed to take kids' blood pressure at
about one-third of routine check-ups between 2000 and 2009. The
American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Heart, Lung and
Blood Institute both recommend that children have yearly
screenings for high blood pressure, starting at age 3. So it's
surprising that blood pressure checks were not done at so many
preventive care visits, according to Daniel J. Shapiro, a
medical student at the University of California, San Francisco
who led the new study. What it all means for kids' health is not
clear. But the findings are important because high blood
pressure and "pre-hypertension" could have health consequences
for kids in the long run, said Dr. Margaret Riley, an assistant
professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan who
was not involved in the study.