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, y diabetes tipo 2 in their thirties, compared to the generation before them. 

Presión arterial 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, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are generally high in ingredients that elevate blood pressure. 

One study even found that people who eat a lot of UPFs are 23% more likely to develop high blood pressure¹.  

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 and obesity

A diet including UPFs is also typically high calorie and addictive. 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.

The more you drink, the higher your chances of developing high blood pressure. This is especially true if you’re over the age of 35. One drink a day can increase your chances. Remember, alcoholic drinks are typically high in calories, which also contributes to excess weight gain - another big factor for high blood pressure.

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

Generally, younger and middle-aged adults are much less mobile in their daily activities than previous generations. Modern technology and industries are crucial in this.

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.

Moderate exercise includes brisk walking, swimming, gardening, light jogging, and tennis playing.

There's much about modern life that can stress us out, from work el agotamiento 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.  

In England, a December 2023 study found that the steady decline in smoking of the last 20 years has nearly ground to a halt since the COVID-19 pandemic. This wasn't due to less people giving up smoking, but to more taking up this dangerous habit for the first time².  

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: Ultra-processed foods, changes in blood pressure and incidence of hypertension. 

2. Cancer Research UK: Decline in smoking rates stalled during the pandemic.