The relationship between overweight, obesity, and hypertension is closely related. Many studies in Europe, the United States, and China have shown that as the body mass index (BMI) of the population increases, so does the blood pressure level and the prevalence of hypertension. If other conditions are roughly the same, the risk of hypertension increases by 10% for every one-unit increase in BMI. A study involving 240,000 people in the United States found that those with a BMI greater than 24 have a 3 to 4 times higher risk of developing hypertension than those with a normal weight. There are also experiments showing that losing weight can reduce the incidence of hypertension.
How to determine overweight and obesity?
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a widely recognized indicator for assessing normal weight, overweight, and obesity.
The calculation formula is: BMI = weight (kg) / square of height (m*m).
The recommended BMI range for adults is: normal range is 18.5-23.9; overweight is 24.0-27.9; obesity is greater than 28; and underweight is less than 18.5.
The standard weight for children aged 1-12 can be calculated using the following formula:
Standard weight for children (kg) = actual age x 2 + 8. A difference of 10% is considered normal.
High-salt diet and hypertension.
High-salt diet is one of the four major risk factors for hypertension. The intake of salt in China is higher than in Western countries, with 12-18g per day in northern China and 7-8g in southern China. The World Health Organization recommends that normal individuals should consume less than 6g of salt per day. With high salt intake, the average blood pressure of the population and the increase in blood pressure with age will significantly increase. In the United States, data also show that if the intake of sodium chloride in the diet exceeds 4g/d, hypertension and its cardiovascular complications are more common. In contrast, below this level, the prevalence of hypertension decreases significantly.
Some French studies also indicate that if the average salt intake in the diet increases by 2g, systolic and diastolic blood pressure will increase by 2.0mmHg and 1.2mmHg, respectively. It should be noted that the sensitivity of salt intake to blood pressure varies among individuals, with some being more sensitive and others not sensitive at all. Approximately half of patients with essential hypertension are salt-sensitive.
