Beware of Kidney Disease in Children, These are Risk Factors that Parents Must Know

JAKARTA - Kidney disease not only occurs in adults, but can also be experienced by children. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease in children globally is estimated at around 15-75 cases per million children, while the incidence ranges from 5-18 cases per million children each year.

This is worrying because the kidneys are vital organs that have many functions for the body. Starting from regulating the balance of fluids in the body, activating vitamin D for bone health, filtering waste substances, to regulating the balance of minerals in the blood.

If there is a disorder in the kidneys, it can affect the overall health of the body, reduce the quality of life, and interfere with the growth and development of children.

Therefore, it is important for parents to be aware of kidney disease in children. One way is to understand the risk factors, to prevent the disease from occurring.

The risk factors for kidney disease in children are prenatal and perinatal factors, such as premature babies, low birth weight, exposure to nephrotoxic drugs during pregnancy, to preeclampsia.

Other factors are genetic and congenital factors with a family history of kidney disease, comorbid diseases such as type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, lupus, and obesity.

Infections are also a risk factor to be aware of, such as recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children. Not only that, other risk factors that can cause kidney disease in children are lifestyles.

Children's Specialist Doctor, Subspecialist of Nephrology at Pondok Indah Hospital, Dr. Henny Adriani Puspitasari, Sp. A, Subsp. Nefro, said that unhealthy lifestyles in children such as excessive salt consumption can increase the risk of developing kidney disorders.

"There is a shift in lifestyle, especially foods that contain high sodium, this causes children to be obese. When children are obese, the higher the children are exposed to hypertension and experience kidney disease," said Dr. Henny, during a discussion with the RSPI media, in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Friday, June 19, 2026.

Dr. Henny strongly recommends that parents understand the risk factors for kidney disease in children. By knowing it, parents can be more strict in maintaining their children's health so that their body does not interfere.

"When we talk about children's kidney disease and want to prevent it, we have to know what the risk factors are. If we have a child with these risk factors, we become more aware and monitor more closely," concluded Dr. Henny.