Children who are overweight or obese are significantly more likely to have high blood pressure as adults, new research has found.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major cause of heart attack and stroke. However, it rarely carries any signs or symptoms. In fact, a person can look and feel well even if they have it.

The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have it checked by a health professional, such as a GP or pharmacist.

US scientists set out to assess whether weight in childhood increased the risk of high blood pressure in adulthood. They monitored the growth and blood pressure of over 1,100 healthy teenagers over a 27-year period, starting in the mid-1980s.

The study found that during childhood, 68% of the participants were a healthy weight, 16% were overweight and 16% were obese.

Six percent of the normal weight children went on to have high blood pressure in adulthood. However, among the overweight children, this figure rose to 14% and among obese children, it hit 26%.

In other words, overweight children doubled their risk of developing high blood pressure in adulthood, while obese children quadrupled their risk.

According to the scientists from the Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana, these findings support growing evidence that heart disease may actually begin in childhood.

"It is important that paediatricians counsel patients on the risk of high blood pressure associated with overweight and obesity, and stress that a healthy diet including reducing salt intake, and exercise, may help reduce this risk.

"Interventions to prevent and treat obesity will play an important role in decreasing the significant burden of high blood pressure in adulthood," they added.

Details of these findings were presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013.