Association Between Body Mass Index And Hypertension Among Adults In Ilorin, Kwara State

Abstract:

Associations between body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) have been consistently observed, but remain poorly understood. One unresolved question is whether there is a linear relationship across the entire BMI range (Halsted, 2001). Epidemiological investigations have been hindered by several factors. The association, however consistent, is rather modest in magnitude, and large sample sizes are therefore required in order to make estimates with any degree of certainty. Furthermore, the use of BMI has been questioned because percent body fat, absolute fat mass and body-fat distribution, or other relevant biological quantities, may not be linearly related to BMI across the entire range of possible values or across different population subgroups. Finally, the effect of treatment in many populations truncates the distribution of blood pressures and therefore reduces the correlation that would be observed between BMI and blood pressure in untreated settings. (Lee, et al. 2011).