A new study from John Hopkins University Medical School finds that doctors fail to diagnoses almost two-thirds of pediatric high blood pressure (HBP) cases. If gone untreated in children, high blood pressure puts children at a higher risk for stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and hardening of the arteries.

Complications in detecting children’s HBP and misconceptions that hypertension is an adults-only problem were cited as possible reasons for the oversight. Lead researcher David C. Kaelber, MD, urges parents to bring up the issue with their children’s doctor.