Research indicates that hypertensive children (those with high blood pressure) may suffer from a decreased ability to think and remember; especially if the child is obese.

Marc Lande, M.D., a pediatric nephrologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Golisano Children’s Hospitaland, took 32 hypertensives aged 10-18 years and paired them with non-hypertensive children based on a number of characteristics, such as age, weight, sex, race, IQ and socioeconomic level. Based on a series of surveys completed by the children’s parents, it became apparent that the children with high blood pressure had lower cognitive function. Children in the study who were hypertensive and obese performed especially poorly and more than half of them demonstrated anxiety and depression.

For more information see:

“Parental Assessments of Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior and Executive Function in Children with Primary Hypertension” Marc B. Lande, Heather Adams, Bonita Falkner, Shari R. Waldstein, George J. Schwartz, Peter G. Szilagyi, Hongyue Wang, Donna Palumbo. The Journal of Pediatrics – February 2009 (Vol. 154, Issue 2, Pages 207-212.e1, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2008.08.017). The study can be found online here: http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(08)00688-4/abstract.

“Children with Hypertension Have Trouble with Thinking, Memory” University of Rochester Medical Center Website. February 24, 2009. Can be viewed online at http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/story.cfm?id=2390.