On the rise: what causes high blood pressure in young adults

What causes high blood pressure in young adults? 

Millennials are less healthy than Gen X members were at the same age, in countries such as the UK and US. Aged between 29-44 years in 2025, Millennials are more likely to face conditions such as high blood pressure, colesterol alto, e diabetes tipo 2 in their thirties, compared to the generation before them. 

Pressão alta (hypertension) occurs when your heart has to pump harder for your blood to pass through narrower blood vessels. This leaves you more vulnerable to potentially life-threatening health issues, such as heart attack or stroke. It also makes you more susceptible to damaging other parts of your body, for example, your kidneys, brain, and eyes.  

Some people have a greater chance of having high blood pressure due to factors outside of their control. Having parents with this health condition, being born with a low weight, and having Black African or Black Caribbean heritage are examples of this. 

Yet, there are also things within your control. These are the lifestyle factors that are more commonplace among people under 50 than they ever have been before.  

In countries such as the UK and US, the average diet contains far more processed foods than it used to. From fast food to microwave meals, alimentos ultraprocessados (AUPs) are generally high in ingredients that elevate blood pressure. 

Um estudo até descobriu que pessoas que consomem muitos UPFs têm 23% mais chances de desenvolver pressão alta¹.  

If you eat lots of processed foods, you're also probably not getting enough whole grains. These foods - which include unprocessed oats, brown rice, and quinoa - help to lower blood pressure by supplying a mineral called potassium. 

UPFs e obesidade

A diet including UPFs is also typically high calorie e viciante. As a result, it's a key factor in the ever-increasing obesity rates in the UK and US.

Having high blood pressure is intimately linked with obesity. Excess weight gain raises blood pressure in several ways, affecting hormones, the nervous system, kidneys, and stomach (abdominal) organs.

What about alcohol? 

Alcohol can affect the muscles in your blood vessels. Those under 50 are generally drinking less than previous generations, but make no mistake, the amount of alcohol consumed by the average adult is still high.

Quanto mais você bebe, maiores são suas chances de desenvolver pressão alta. Isso é especialmente verdadeiro se você tiver mais de 35 anos. Uma bebida por dia pode aumentar suas chances. Lembre-se, bebidas alcoólicas geralmente são ricas em calorias, o que também contribui para o ganho excessivo de peso - outro grande fator para a pressão alta.

High blood pressure is also linked with being inactive. So, how much you are moving is also very important.

Geralmente, os adultos mais jovens e de meia-idade são muito menos móveis em suas atividades diárias do que as gerações anteriores. A tecnologia moderna e as indústrias são cruciais nisso.

Being physically active not only helps control your blood pressure by aiding healthy weight loss. It also strengthens your heart and reduces stress - all of which is good for blood pressure. Aim for at least 150 minutes - two and a half hours - of moderate intensity exercise a week.

Exercícios moderados incluem caminhada rápida, natação, jardinagem, corrida leve e jogar tênis.

There's much about modern life that can stress us out, from work esgotamento to social media anxiety. 

Ongoing stress, common in today's society, can increase blood pressure. When you're stressed for a long time, this sends your nervous system into over-drive. It's thought that this triggers inflammation and causes blood vessels to narrow, so blood can't flow as easily around your body. 

The relationship between stress and high blood pressure is complex. As difficult as it may seem, you need to address the route of the issue. This will vary for different people.

Long gone are the days when cigarettes were advertised as healthy status symbols. Yet, smoking hasn't fallen out of favour among younger adults as much as health experts had hoped.  

Na Inglaterra, um estudo de dezembro de 2023 descobriu que o declínio constante no tabagismo dos últimos 20 anos quase parou desde a pandemia de COVID-19. Isso não se deveu a menos pessoas parando de fumar, mas a mais pessoas começando esse hábito perigoso pela primeira vez².  

In recent years, a huge cultural trend for e-cigarettes - or vapes - has also raised the alarm among doctors. First welcomed around 20 years ago to help smokers quit, vapes are now also thought to cause life-threatening side-effects. 

It's well established that tobacco smoking raises blood pressure, because it makes blood vessels work less efficiently. More recently, studies have shown that the fumes breathed in when vaping have the same effect. 

1. Oliveira da Silva Scaranni et al: Alimentos ultraprocessados, alterações na pressão arterial e incidência de hipertensão. 

2. Cancer Research UK: Queda nas taxas de tabagismo estagnou durante a pandemia.