Twenty minutes of daily meditation appeared to help reduce middle-schoolers’ blood pressure, perhaps putting them at lower risk of cardiovascular problems later in life, new research indicates.

In contrast, similar 12-year-olds who received instruction about how to prevent high blood pressure through diet and exercise instead of meditation actually experienced an increase in blood pressure over three months.

These findings demonstrate that meditation may have a “potential beneficial impact” on healthy kids, say the researchers, led by Dr. Frank A. Treiber of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

Research shows that people who have practiced meditation for a long time typically have lower blood pressure than those who don’t meditate.

Experts have become increasingly interested in kids’ blood pressure, since high blood pressure has its roots in childhood, and is linked to a high risk of future cardiovascular health problems.

To investigate whether meditation helps reduce kids’ blood pressure, Treiber and his team asked 73 seventh-graders - all with healthy blood pressure - to try either 20 minutes of mediation daily or weekly health classes for three months. The researchers measured the participants’ blood pressure before and after the study.

During the meditation, students practiced a beginner technique, in which they focused on their breathing, sitting upright with their eyes closed. They were told that if their attention wavered, they should acknowledge the distraction and focus again on their breathing. They practiced one 10-minute meditation session at school and one at home after school.

After three months of meditation, students’ systolic blood pressure - the top number in a blood pressure reading - decreased by 2 or 3 points.

If maintained over time, this small decrease in systolic pressure could reduce the risk of dying from stroke or heart problems in adulthood by nearly 13 percent, the authors write in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Among non-meditators, systolic blood pressure actually appeared to increase by 1 to 4 points.

Previous research has shown that meditation programs can also decrease absences and behavior problems among teenagers, Treiber and his colleagues note.

“Implementation of (meditation) programs in the school setting is not only feasible but may also be desirable because of their impact on school-related conduct as well as possible impact on future health,” they write.

SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, December 2004.