DR. MIKE-
I AM LOOKING FOR GUIDELINES ON NORMAL BLOOD PRESSURES FOR CHILDREN AGE
1-17.
ALL I CAN FIND IS THE 90-95% FROM THE HARRIET LANE BOOK. I'M
WONDERING WHAT
NORMAL FOR ALL PERCENTILES IS AND WHAT IS CONSIDERED HYPOTENSION IN
CHILDREN.
THANKS IN ADVANCE,
S.S.
That's a broad question, but I think I can help.
Needless to say with so many different sizes and shapes of children,
blood pressures vary greatly. It's also important to keep in mind
that it's not necessarily the number you should worry about, but the
overall health of the child.
First I will
give you the technical ranges, and then I'll give you a "quick and
dirty way" of determining if a child is considered "hypotensive"
or not.
These ranges
are from the American Heart Association
| Age |
Systolic |
Diastolic |
| Newborn |
60-90 |
20-60 |
| Infant
(< 1 year) |
87-105 |
53-66 |
| Toddler
(1-2 years) |
95-105 |
53-66 |
| School
age (7 years) |
97-112 |
57-71 |
| Adolescent
(15 years) |
112-128 |
66-80 |
Now, here is
the fastest way to determine if a child is hypotensive or not:
The systolic
blood pressure should not be less than
70 + 2 times
the age (in years) of the child.
So, if a child
is 5 years old, his systolic blood pressure should not be less than 70 +
2 times 5 (his age in years), which is equal to 80. His systolic BP
should not be less than 80.
I hope that
answers your question. That was a good one. Dr. Mike
This article was reviewed 04/23/2010 07:24 AM
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