News
High blood pressure in childhood affects the heart decades later
10 Oct 2025
“We were surprised to find that high blood pressure in childhood is linked to serious health problems many years later. Childhood hypertension or elevated blood pressure may increase the risk of death by 40–50% over the next five decades of life,” said Dr. Alexa Friedman, associate professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
The study included more than 38,000 children from the “Collaborative Perinatal Project,” one of the largest U.S. studies conducted between 1959 and 1965. Participants had their blood pressure measured at age seven, and researchers linked these records with the National Death Registry to track outcomes through 2016. By that time, the average participant age was 54. There were 2,837 recorded deaths, of which 504 were attributed to cardiovascular conditions.
The analysis revealed that even moderate increases in childhood blood pressure elevate the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes later in life. Each rise in systolic pressure increased the risk by 13%, while diastolic pressure raised it by 18%.
The association remained strong even after accounting for genetics and environmental factors. A sibling comparison further confirmed that early hypertension is an independent risk factor.
According to the World Health Organization, hypertension affects 1.28 billion adults worldwide — roughly one in three people aged 30–79. In Kazakhstan, the prevalence of arterial hypertension among young adults (average age 31) is 23%. This means that one in four children and young people may carry an elevated risk of future cardiovascular disease. “Arterial hypertension is a risk factor that begins acting much earlier than we usually assume. Even slight increases in blood pressure at a young age influence the vessels and the heart for decades. It’s essential to build healthy habits from early childhood: proper nutrition, physical activity, reduced salt intake, good sleep, and stress management. These measures can meaningfully reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in adulthood,” said Bakhyt Tumenova, physician and head of the National Association Densaulyq.