You may have noticed that America is getting larger and not in a good way. A study, titled Add Health and conducted by the University of North Carolina showed that young adults between the ages of 24 and 32 are at a higher risk than ever for high blood pressure among other health problems. High blood pressure is defined as that above 140/90.
When I was that age, few of us worried about any health problems. But, the expanding waistlines and higher body mass index (BMI) of these young adults is taking its toll.
The study, which was published in Epidemiology, an online journal, found that approximately one out of every five people between that age range suffered from high blood pressure. But, that’s not all. They were also at higher risk of diabetes, kidney disease, and arthritis due to excessive weight.
The researchers, who were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) became looking at data from the federal National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health surveys of teenagers that began back in 1995.
While some other studies cited lower rates of high blood pressure among young adults, there is still cause for concern. That’s because being overweight is one of the risk factors of high blood pressure and the majority of the young adults in the North Carolina survey grew overweight or obese as they aged. When the participants were between the ages of 12 and 19, only 11 percent were obese. A mere five years later, that number had increased to 22 percent. Thirteen years into the study, that number rose to 37 percent, more than a third of the participants. Worse yet, while 37 percent were obese, 30 percent were overweight. That meant an overwhelming 67 percent of these young adults were dealing with weigh problems.
To add to the problem, the researchers found that like most young adults, these participants didn’t think health problems could affect them. They didn’t routinely visit the doctor or have their blood pressure checked, so many didn’t even realize they had a problem.
One thing researchers suggested to help prevent high blood pressure was to lay off the salt.