Kids can get high blood pressure just like adults. But their's isn't as easy to diagnose. That's why parents need to be proactive. Four years ago Kyle Linhares learned he had high blood pressure, so he took steps to lower it.

Kyle said, "the last couple of times, it's been really good. It's been fairly steady at about 122, 123 over 70 or 75." That’s great for Kyle because keeping it in check now can help him avoid a stroke or heart disease down the road.

"Our study would suggest that most children with hypertension are not recognized at all," said Dr. Matthew Hansen. Dr. Hansen studied the electronic medical records of 14-thousand kids and found that only one in four who had hypertension were actually diagnosed with it.

According to the doctor, "it's not something that you can do just by passively looking at their measures." There's no target number for kids like there is for adults.

What's considered normal varies with age, sex, height, and weight. And it changes as they grow. "I have to go to a book and look up all those things by table and then you find the number that's the goal for that particular child," said cardiologist, Dr. Maureen Mays.

Doctors say a tool that makes blood pressure easier to calculate might keep hypertensive kids from falling through the cracks. "In the age of electronic health records, you can have a computer system that could potentially do it for you and track the child's blood pressure over time," says Dr. Hansen.

Until a system is developed, parents should make sure their child's blood pressure is measured accurately. According to Dr. Mays, "you really need to find out if it's good because, for kids, the guidelines are completely different."

If it's not good, at least you'll know in time to make potentially lifesaving changes. Doctor Mays says 85 percent of her pediatric patients have either elevated blood pressure or fully diagnosed hypertension - the vast majority due to a combination of poor diet and weight gain.