Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers may be fearful of being separated from their parent or caregiver. Other illnesses your child may have (such as kidney or heart disease) affects blood pressure.Ĭhildren (and adults) may be anxious in a doctor's office, not knowing what may happen and being afraid of a possibly painful experience ahead of them.

Your child's age, height, weight, and gender. Physical or emotional stress can elevate blood pressure. Feelings (such as fear, anger, or happiness) can affect blood pressure. Blood pressure is usually higher during and immediately after exercise, and lower at rest.Įmotional moods. Blood pressures fluctuate during waking hours, and are lower as we sleep. Is a blood pressure reading always the same?īlood pressure can be affected by many factors, including the following: High blood pressure is also called hypertension. If the pressure is high during the relaxation phase (diastole), then the second number recorded (the diastolic pressure) will be high. If the pressure is high during the pumping phase (systole), then the first number recorded with a blood pressure reading (the systolic pressure) will be high. High blood pressure means that there is higher than normal pressure inside the arteries either during systole (when the heart contracts and pumps blood through the body), or during diastole (when the heart relaxes and fills with blood). This recording represents how high the mercury column is raised by the pressure of the blood. It occurs when the heart relaxes and fills with blood.Įach time the heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries, resulting in the highest blood pressure, the systolic pressure, as the heart contracts, and the lowest blood pressure, the diastolic pressure, as the heart relaxes.īoth the systolic and diastolic pressures are recorded as 'mm Hg' (millimeters of mercury).

The lower number, or diastolic pressure, refers to the lowest pressure inside the artery. It occurs when the heart contracts and pumps blood into the body. The higher number, or systolic pressure, refers to the highest pressure inside the artery.

Two numbers are recorded when measuring blood pressure: High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents What is blood pressure?īlood pressure, measured with a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope by a nurse or other health care provider, is the force of the blood pushing against the artery walls.

Printable blood pressure chart for men