Childhood Hypertension: An Underappreciated Epidemic?

It is no secret that the United States and much of the developed world are in the midst of a pediatric obesity epidemic. Perhaps less recognized is that childhood hypertension is now one of the most common health concerns in children. Recent data from NHANES demonstrate prehypertension or hypertension in 19.2% of adolescent-age boys and 12.6% of girls, an estimated 38% increase compared with NHANES III data collected from 1988 to 1994.¹ In their analysis in this issue of Pediatrics, Kaelber and colleagues² used data from the Comparative Effectiveness Research from the Collaborative Electronic Reporting Consortium, a network of over 2000 pediatric primary care clinicians coordinated by the American Academy of Pediatrics, to evaluate the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric hypertension. Their study population included just under 400 000 children (ages 3–18 years) evaluated in primary care settings between 1999 and 2014. They document a 3.3% prevalence...