Your child's heart rate, or pulse, can expose a hidden health problem. By knowing how to monitor the number of heartbeats per minute in your child, you can keep track of changes in your child's physical behavior and overall health during rest and other activities. Regardless of whether your child has heart problems, it's important for every parent to understand normal heart rates in children.
How to Test Your Child's Heart Rate
The obvious places to test the pulse is the wrist or neck. As the child is sitting, put your index and middle finger firmly over the child's wrist until you feel a pulse. Hold the child's arm in place by securing your thumb on the opposite side of your fingers. To measure the pulse on the neck, place the index and middle finger just to the side of the Adam's apple, in the soft, hollow area. Press firmly until you locate the pulse. Once you find the pulse, count the beats for one minute.
Resting Heart Rate
Resting heart rate is the pulse when the body is at rest for at least 10 minutes and always prior to any strenuous physical activity. According to MedlinePlus, normal resting heart rates are 100 to 160 for newborns; 70 to 120 beats per minute for people 1 to 10 years of age; and 60 to 100 beats per minute for children older than 10. The heart should be consistent and steady each beat and stay within normal guidelines throughout the minute test. Should any irregular beats occur, or the heart rate fall outside of the normal range, consult a heath care provider.
Getting Your Child's Heart Rate Up
While an elevated resting heart rate could be a sign of trouble, consistently getting your child to raise his heart rate during physical activity could improve your child's resting heart rate and increase his overall heart health. According to Child Health
USA 2008-2009, a publication by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 34.7 percent of high school students met recommended levels of physical activity in 2007. At that time, the recommendation for this age group was any kind of physical activity that increases heart rate and causes the child to breathe hard for some of the time for a total of at least 60 minutes per day, five or more days per week. With the continuing cancellation of physical education in schools, it is incumbent on parents to take responsibility for their child's physical fitness.
Preventing Heart Disease Early
Heart disease is still the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. By frequently monitoring your child's heart rate and taking action to promote physical activity to keep your child's pulse within normal range, you will improve the odds of having your child will live a longer, healthier life.
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