Relation of body mass index, abdominal obesity, some nutritional habits and hypertension in 25-65 year old population of Tehran

  Introduction: Hypertension is considered as a major public health problem in most countries due to its association with ischemic heart disease which causes cerebrovascular disease and death. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI), abdominal obesity and some nutritional habits and hypertension in 25-65 year old population of Tehran.   Material and Methods: This study is a population-based case-control study. In the study, 270 individual of student‘s parents from 5 schools in Tehran were randomly selected as the subjects. They were screened by a general physician and a nurse through an interview and physical examination and divided into two groups: control (normostensive) and case (hypertensive) group. The anthropometric measures and blood pressure of subjects were measured and recorded. A questionnaire was completed for both groups.   Results: 127 and 143 out of 270 participants were categorized in case and control groups, respectively (44.12% male and 55.88% female).The average age was 40.23 years old for control group and 52.48 years old for case group. There was a significant relation between age and prevalence of hypertension. In addition, an association of increased BMI and abdominal obesity with high blood pressure was observed. A negative relationship between consumption of whole grain bread and high blood pressure was detected in this study. Eating breakfast regularly was found to be inversely associated with blood pressure. A relationship between drinking carbonated beverages (cola) and high blood pressure was found as well.   Conclusion: Hypertension is a major public health problem in most countries. Maintenance of normal BMI and waist circumference, regular consumption of whole grain bread, eating breakfast and avoiding of carbonated beverages are proposed as the primary prevention of hypertension .