Association of High Blood Pressure with Body Mass Index, Smoking and Physical Activity in Healthy Young Adults

Abstract

Introduction:The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between resting blood pressure (BP), smoking, physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) in Greek young adults.Materials and Methodology:A standardised questionnaire and the Greek version of IPAQ-short were given to 1500 randomly selected health science students, in order to record smoking behaviour, PA status, BMI and resting BP. All healthy young adults aged 19-30 years old were eligible. The final size of the study cohort was 1249 students (522 men).Results:Males’ BP was 129.2/77.0 mmHg, significantly higher than the females’ values of 119.9/73.4 mmHg. Approximately 17% of the total population were classified as overweight and 3% as obese. In the overall population, smoking prevalence was 35.2%, with 15.3% being heavy smokers (≥21 cigs/d). Smoking prevalence did not differ significantly between sexes. The prevalence of health-enhancing PA (high PAclass) was only 14.0%, while 42.8% of the study population were classified as insufficiently active (low PAclass). Of the three lifestyle risk factors examined, only BMI was significantly and directly associated with systolic and diastolic BP levels. The prevalence of hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg) was significantly higher in men compared to women, and in obese and overweight participants compared to normal-weight subjects. Smoking and categorical PA (PAclass) were not correlated with BP. Continuous vigorous PAscore was significantly and directly associated with systolic BP, but only in males.Conclusion:BMI was significantly and directly associated with resting BP in both sexes. Smoking prevalence and PA status were not associated with BP in this sample of Greek young adults.

Prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors in young adults attending a tertiary care institute of Nagpur: a cross sectional study

“…24 A study conducted by Papathanasiou et al found that body mass index and male gender had higher odds of being hypertensive in this age group. 23 Similar findings were postulated by study conducted by Bruno et al 25 In our study, we found a higher prevalence of hypertension in males when compared to females, but it did not attain the level of significance. Similar results were reported by a study conducted by Reddy et al 27 But, a study conducted by Papathanasiou et al found higher prevalence of hypertension in males when compared to females.…”

“…29,[31][32][33][34] After logistic analysis, age and overweight category were found to be independent risk factors associated with hypertension. Similar inferences were found by Papathanasiou et al and Bruno et al 23,25 Some studies conducted on pre hypertension as the outcome variable also found similar results. In our study, physical activity was found not associated with hypertension, but study conducted by Papathanasiou et al found physical activity to be protective for hypertension.…”

“…The prevalence of hypertension in this age group found in our study was similar to study by Dores et al 14 prevalence when compared to our study. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Similar studies conducted by Al Majed et al and Kanade et al found higher prevalence in this age group. 29,30 The National Health and Nutrition Survey for the year 2012-2013 reports that the prevalence of hypertension in young adults of United States to be 7.3%, this prevalence is also lower than our study.…”

“…Similar results were reported by a study conducted by Reddy et al 27 But, a study conducted by Papathanasiou et al found higher prevalence of hypertension in males when compared to females. 23 This gender difference might be due to the fact that oestrogen is protective for cardiovascular diseases in females of this age group. In our study behavioural risk factors like tobacco chewing, smoking and alcohol use were not significantly higher in hypertensive study population.…”

The Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Relation to Age, Body Mass Index, and Physical Activity Among High School Girls in Daniel Susa, Iran 2014

“…The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by 10 members of the faculty, and its reliability was reported 79% by the Cranach α. The international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) was also used, whose reliability was reported to be 0.8 (18,19).…”