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The Cross Sectional Study to Assess Dietary Habits, Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure among Hypertensive Clients Residing at Muthialpet, Puducherry, India

T Muthukumaran

Hypertension is a medical condition in which blood pressure is chronically elevated. According to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) of a person equals 140 mmHg or above and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 90 mmHg or above is considered a case of hypertension. According to WHO World Health Report 2002, there are approximately 600 million people suffering from hypertension in the world. It causes an estimated 50 million premature deaths and 13% of global fatalities worldwide. High blood pressure contributes 10.9% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in developed countries, whereas 5% in developing countries with low mortality rates. Cardiovascular disease is one of the major leading causes of deaths in developed countries. In a day, a young adult in the age group of 20 to 45 years is expected to shed 1,000 calories on work-related activities. Poor physical activity coupled with high calorie food, high salt content and fatty food intake, serve as drawbacks. Thus this study was carried out to assess the dietary habits, body mass index and blood pressure among Hypertensive clients residing at Muthialpet, Puducherry, India The results revealed that, 36.67% were aged above 60 years, while 6.667% of participants were aged between 31 - 40 years, 73.3 % of all participants were home maker, about 16.7% of the participants were not aware of hypertension and 40% reported that no history of Hypertension.