Management of the child with persistently elevated blood pressure

Nearly one in five adult Americans has high blood pressure. This disease and its sequelae are a major health problem in this country. It has been suggested that early detection and intervention during the childhood years may be the most effective way to reduce the ravages of hypertension. Such an approach presumes that hypertension is rather prevalent in the pediatric population and that effective screening will identify a substantial number requiring treatment. Until recently, the true prevalence of hypertension in the pediatric population had not been clearly established.