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Age-based Pediatric Blood Pressure Reference Charts
Please Note: The calculators on this page have been updated and replaced by newer versions.The new calculators can be found here: Pediatric Blood Pressure - Updated
Why monitor blood pressure (BP)?Hypertension (high blood pressure) is an important health issue in children, because of its association with obesity. High blood pressure is considered a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and high BP in childhood has been linked to high BP in adulthood.
This calculator can help to determine whether a child has a healthy blood pressure for his/her height, age and gender. In boys and girls, the normal range of blood pressure varies based on height percentile and age. This calculator automatically adjusts for differences in height, age and gender, calculating a child's height percentile along with blood pressure percentile. The normal blood pressure range, while steadily increasing with age, will shift based on the child's height. 
The BP reference data include the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles for age and height for both boys and girls. So the graphs on this page show the upper half of the blood pressure range found in children. Normal BP is defined as systolic and diastolic blood pressures that are below the 90th percentile. The systolic number represents BP in blood vessels when a heart beats. The diastolic number is the pressure in blood vessels between beats, when the heart is at rest.
How do we evaluate blood pressureBlood pressure is not always consistent, and can vary even when the child is resting. Thus, elevated BP readings should be repeated and confirmed over several visits before a child is identified as having hypertension. The most precise measure of a child's BP is an average of multiple measurements taken over several weeks (or even months) by a health professional.
A common approach is to obtain 3 assessments from different days to more reliably measure blood pressure.
BP-for-age status categories and their related percentile ranges are shown in the following table:
Blood Pressure for Age - Status Categories A Systolic and/or Diastolic BP Percentile of: Suggests that a child has: Equal to or greater than the 95th percentile Hypertension 90th to less than the 95th percentile Prehypertension BP greater than 120/80 mm Hg Prehypertension (Elevated) ** Readings for Children with BP exceeding 120/80 mm Hg may indicate Stage 1 or Stage 2 hypertension, so putting those BP readings into the context of percentiles can help a health care provider determine appropriate treatment.
To be accurately diagnosed with hypertension, a child must have systolic or diastolic blood pressure equal to or greater than the 95th percentile on three separate occasions.
You can read more about blood pressure on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site: CDC.
Data SourceThe tools provided here are based on publicly available data from the following source:
The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Individual results, when compared to other children, can be affected by many factors. Thus, this software should not be used for medical diagnostic or treatment purposes. Additionally, the authors and their affiliated institutions are not liable for any damages to users or third parties arising from the use of this software.
This software is protected under international copyright law. Unauthorized duplication or distribution is a violation of copyright. Entering this section of the web site implies acceptance of the conditions stated above.
Supporting PublicationsNational High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2004; 114(2 Suppl 4th Report): 555-76.
Rosner B, Cook N, Portman R, Daniels S, Falkner B. Determination of blood pressure percentiles in normal-weight children: some methodological issues. Am J Epidemiol 2008; 167(6): 653-66.
Home Monitoring Helps Moms Track Blood Pressure After Birth, Reducing Risks
A few days after her baby was born, Emily Elsner got a very bad headache.
Then her vision became blurry, and her legs were swollen. An after-hours nurse told her to seek emergency care immediately.
Four days after giving birth, Elsner was diagnosed with gestational hypertension, a form of high blood pressure that happens during pregnancy or postpartum.
Joe Reiner holds his daughter, June alongside his wife Emily Elsner, who participated in M Health Fairview's home blood pressure monitoring program, at their home in St. Paul on Nov. 22.
Ben HovlandMPR News
High blood pressure disorders affect one in seven patients during pregnancy or after delivery, leading to an increased risk of dangerous complications that can include stroke, heart failure and seizures. They are also the leading cause of maternal mortality in industrialized countries, and their prevalence is increasing.
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When Elsner, 30, went into labor, her blood pressure readings were consistently high.
After a safe delivery, Elsner's numbers returned to a more normal range. But before going home to St. Paul, she was told by her health care team to watch for headaches that did not go away with pain medication, changes in vision, cramping and swollen feet and legs, all signs of a troubling blood pressure level.
Following her emergency room visit, doctors gave Elsner medication to control her blood pressure, a home monitoring kit, and a plan to check her blood pressure twice a day. She was told to upload her results into a phone app that sends them to her healthcare team.
It is all part of a pilot program.
RN coordinator Sarah Fladhammer checks patients' blood pressures on the HOPE-BP dashboard at M Health Fairview's Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center in Minneapolis on Nov. 1.
Ben HovlandMPR News
M Health Fairview launched the Home Observation of Postpartum Elevated Blood Pressure, or HOPE-BP program at the University of Minnesota Medical Center last year. New mothers diagnosed with high blood pressure disorders in pregnancy receive equipment to monitor and report their blood pressure from home for six weeks after delivery.
Dr. Bethany Sabol, maternal-fetal medicine physician at M Health Fairview, started the HOPE-BP program. She cares for individuals with high-risk pregnancies and manages hypertension and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, an umbrella term that includes any blood pressure disorder-related issue in pregnancy, some of which can be life-threatening.
Dr. Bethany Sabol, creator of the Home Observation of Postpartum Elevated Blood Pressure (HOPE-BP) program, poses for a photo at M Health Fairview's Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center in Minneapolis on Nov. 1.
Ben HovlandMPR News
Her nursing team reviews the uploaded blood pressure results many times an hour, notifying patients immediately if the numbers concern them. Sometimes a medication adjustment is all that is needed to resolve the situation.
The six-week program has served about 460 individuals so far, with around 50 participating at any given time. It is only available for patients who deliver a baby at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and who have either chronic hypertension or high blood pressure disorder while pregnant or during postpartum.
The postpartum period is a high-risk time for patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy because they do not have as many interactions with their care providers. It is also the leading cause of readmission following delivery, and severe cases are associated with life-threatening complications.
Emily Elsner checks a blood pressure value chart, a rubric that the HOPE-BP program uses while monitoring patients, at her home in St. Paul on Nov. 22.
Ben HovlandMPR News
Sabol said when people are pregnant the amount of blood volume in their bodies is substantially higher. Some of that volume shifts between cells or to places where fluid does not normally accumulate, making swelling a common symptom.
"In those first few days after delivery, the fluid gets remobilized and put back into the vascular system, which is normal if you look at blood pressure trends after delivery," Sabol said. "That tips people into those more severe blood pressure ranges. Most patients are not seen in the clinic until three to five days after delivery and sometimes blood pressure becomes a problem before that visit can occur."
It can also be challenging for postpartum people to come into the clinic for a blood pressure check, Sabol said. She added that not having to find child care or a ride to the clinic to get evaluated is one of the biggest ways HOPE-BP is improving access and reducing preventable readmissions while also identifying people who do need to come in.
About one in five people who have a high blood pressure disorder of pregnancy will develop chronic hypertension, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sabol said data suggests this can have ongoing implications and increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart failure later in life.
The HOPE-BP program is currently only offered in English. Sabol said her clinic sees a large Somali population whose primary language is not English, meaning they cannot be enrolled in the program. They are working on either translating HOPE-BP into multiple languages or offering a similar program in different languages to address this need and eliminate enrollment rate gaps between different races and ethnicities.
Significant racial disparities exist in postpartum complication and readmission rates. A 2021 study shows that Black women have the greatest risk of developing preeclampsia, a dangerously high blood pressure condition that can happen after the 20th week of pregnancy or after giving birth. But among women with preeclampsia, Asian/Pacific Islander women may be at the greatest risk of cardiovascular complications. Once women develop preeclampsia, regardless of race or ethnicity, the risk of cardiovascular complications is high.
Black women with cardiovascular risk factors are also more likely to be readmitted postpartum, to have severe morbidity and to have life-threatening complications, compared with white women.
Sabol said systemic racism plays a role in these health disparities and sometimes practitioners do not listen well to women of color.
"There's no difference in the disorder itself," Sabol said. "It is how we are approaching our diagnosis, treatment, and care and we need to do better."
Women of color across all income and education levels experience higher levels of chronic stress during pregnancy, according to Dr. Courtney Jordan Baechler, a preventive cardiologist at Park Nicollet Heart and Vascular Center and serves on the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
"This results in greater rates of hypertensive disorders, preterm birth, low birth weight and perinatal mortality among Black women," Jordan Baechler said.
Since 1999, Minnesota has had the lowest overall heart disease death rate in the country but results vary across race and ethnicity.
"Cardiovascular disease is the leading preventable cause of death for women during pregnancy in the postpartum period. So, lots and lots of work to be done there," Jordan Baechler said.
Willy the cat sniffs the head of 8-week-old baby June as she's held by her father Joe Reiner at their home in St. Paul on Nov. 22.
Ben HovlandMPR News
Emily Elsner recently graduated from the HOPE-BP program and no longer takes her blood pressure every day. She feels great but is slightly anxious knowing there could be long-term health impacts after being diagnosed with gestational hypertension.
"It just felt surreal in the moment where you are adjusting to your new life and the thing you get scared of the most — something could be wrong with me or the baby — does happen," Elsner said. "It is a relief to know that my body is regulating blood pressure on its own now."
Age-based Pediatric Blood Pressure Reference Charts
Click, tap or hover over Blue Text to popup helpful information.
Why monitor blood pressure (BP)?Hypertension (high blood pressure) is an important health issue in children, because of its association with obesity. High blood pressure is considered a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and high BP in childhood has been linked to high BP in adulthood.
This calculator can help to determine whether a child has a healthy blood pressure for his/her height, age and gender. In boys and girls, the normal range of blood pressure varies based on height percentile and age. This calculator automatically adjusts for differences in height, age and gender, calculating a child's height percentile along with blood pressure percentile. The normal blood pressure range, while steadily increasing with age, will shift based on the child's height.
The BP reference data include the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles for age and height for both boys and girls. So the graphs on this page show the upper half of the blood pressure range found in children. Normal BP is defined as systolic and diastolic blood pressures that are below the 90th percentile. The systolic number represents BP in blood vessels when a heart beats. The diastolic number is the pressure in blood vessels between beats, when the heart is at rest.
The graphs on this page have been updated to reflect the most recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The new normative pediatric BP tables are now based on normal-weight children. Unlike the previous tables, these BP reference values do not include children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. The strong association of both overweight and obesity with elevated BP and hypertension (HTN) was thought to bias the previous results. (See Flynn et al, Pediatrics, 2017)
How do we evaluate blood pressureBlood pressure is not always consistent, and can vary even when the child is resting. Thus, elevated BP readings should be repeated and confirmed over several visits before a child is identified as having hypertension. The most precise measure of a child's BP is an average of multiple measurements taken over several weeks (or even months) by a health professional.
A common approach is to obtain 3 assessments from different days to more reliably measure blood pressure.
Reference DataThe tools provided here are based on publicly available data from the following source:
Flynn JT, Kaelber DC, Baker-Smith CM, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for Screening and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics 2017; 140(3):e20171904.
BP-for-age status categories and their related percentile ranges are shown in the following table:
Definitions of BP Categories & Stages Category For Children Aged 1 to <13 y For Children Aged ≥13 y Normal BP: <90th percentile <120/<80 mmHg Elevated BP: ≥90th to <95th percentile or120/80 mmHg to <95th percentile(whichever is lower) 120/<80 to 129/<80 mmHg Stage 1 HTN: ≥95th to <95th percentile+12 mmHg or130/80 to 139/89 mmHg(whichever is lower) 130/80 to 139/89 mmHg Stage 2 HTN: ≥95th percentile+12 mmHg or≥140/90 mmHg(whichever is lower) ≥140/90 Simplified BP TableThe new guidelines also include a simplified table designed to be used as a screening tool to identify children and adolescents needing further evaluation. Thus, the simplified table may be used to determine when a BP measurement should be repeated. It is not meant to be used to diagnose elevated BP or HTN. It is important to use the values in the BP reference tables or tools such as the calculators on this page to diagnose elevated BP or HTN. Depending on the child's height and age, values in the simplified table may differ from reference values.
Simplified Screening BP Table - Further Evaluation Required BOYS GIRLS Age Systolic Diastolic Systolic Diastolic 1 98 52 98 54 2 100 55 101 58 3 101 58 102 60 4 102 60 103 62 5 103 63 104 64 6 105 66 105 67 7 106 68 106 68 8 107 69 107 69 9 107 70 108 71 10 108 72 109 72 11 110 74 111 74 12 113 75 114 75 ≥13 120 80 120 80Return to the CNRC Interactive Calculators
Please noteIndividual results, when compared to other children, can be affected by many factors. Thus, this software should not be used for medical diagnostic or treatment purposes. Additionally, the authors and their affiliated institutions are not liable for any damages to users or third parties arising from the use of this software.
This software is protected under international copyright law. Unauthorized duplication or distribution is a violation of copyright. Entering this section of the web site implies acceptance of the conditions stated above.
These tools are created and maintained by the Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) which houses laboratories of varied disciplines, a vast array of state-of-the-art equipment, a greenhouse, observation labs and accommodations for research volunteers, a metabolic kitchen, and an elite group of scientists conducting groundbreaking research. Visit the CNRC.
To cite this sourceShypailo RJ (2018) Age-based Pediatric Blood Pressure Reference Charts. Retrieved from the Baylor College of Medicine, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Body Composition Laboratory Web Site:http://www.Bcm.Edu/bodycomplab/BPappZjs/BPvAgeAPPz.Htm
Supporting publicationsNational High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2004; 114(2 Suppl 4th Report): 555-76.
Rosner B, Cook N, Portman R, Daniels S, Falkner B. Determination of blood pressure percentiles in normal-weight children: some methodological issues. Am J Epidemiol 2008; 167(6): 653-66.
Flynn JT, Kaelber DC, Baker-Smith CM, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline for Screening and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics 2017; 140(3):e20171904.
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