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| A doctor examines a little girl. — VNA/VNS Photo Phương Vy |
Viet Nam News
HCM CITY — Some 15 per cent of students from primary and high schools in HCM City suffer from hypertension due to obesity, being overweight and physically inactive.
The data was revealed by Phạm Văn Hưng, head of the Non-contagious Disease Control and Nutrition Department under the city’s Preventive Medicine Centre, at an event held on Wednesday to mark World Hypertension Day.
Hưng said young people, especially children, did not think they could suffer from hypertension because people believed only the elderly suffered from this ailment.
“But it’s not true,” he said.
He said owing to an unhealthy lifestyle, any person could suffer from hypertension.
According to doctors, hypertension is listed as a “silent killer.” However, understanding about the ailment in children is still limited .
Doctors have warned that hypertension in children without early intervention can adversely affect a child’s health and development, and can even be life threatening because it can damage the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.
Hưng said parents should often measure blood pressure of children so that they can actively prevent the ailment from occurring.
Additionally, medical experts also told parents to maintain a healthy regime for their children, such as eating more vegetables and fruits and doing more exercises.
Also at the event, the city’s preventive medicine department said since 2016, it has run a programme called “The society for strong hearts,” controlling hypertension for two million locals, including 700,000 people above 40.
Under the programme, stations were set up to measure blood pressure for free and services were offered to screen and timely detect hypertension. — VNS
