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Journal of Medical Sciences

Year: 2013 | Volume: 13 | Issue: 3 | Page No.: 151-159
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Authors

Chukwunonso E.C.C. Ejike

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Review Article

Obesity and Hypertension in Children and Adolescents: Developing New Tools for the Diagnosis of Two Global Pediatric Challenges

Chukwunonso E.C.C. Ejike
Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is rising and is thought to be driving the increasing prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension in children and adolescents. In developing countries, this is additionally worrisome due to the persisting presence of communicable diseases and the double burden of disease it creates. Both obesity and hypertension arise from gene-environment interactions, making management by modulating the environmental factors possible especially when the disorder is detected early. Diagnosing obesity and hypertension early would help in the timely initiation of management strategies. This would in turn not only reduce both morbidity and mortality from the diseases, but also the economic burden the diseases place on individuals, families and the health system in general. The current “gold standard” diagnostic tools for obesity and hypertension in pediatrics are however unwieldy and difficult to use by non-professionals and professionals working in regions where the patient/doctor ratio is very high. The development of easy-to-use tools for the diagnosis of these diseases is clearly one very important means of improving early diagnosis and the benefits derivable from it. This paper reviews the literature on obesity and hypertension and highlights the recently developed diagnostic tools and the advantages they bring to the diagnostic table.
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