Abstract:Background: Woman’s body goes through some major changes during the menopause, and as a result they may experience a range of unexpected symptoms, such as high blood pressure. Both men and women experience hypertension during the aging process. However women are more prevalent in developing hypertension than men. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. The prevalence of obesity may be as high as 40% in postmenopausal women.
Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of hypertension in obese and non obese post menopausal women.
Methodology: A questionnaire and interview-based method was used to collect the data. General information of the subjects and anthropometric measurements were assessed. Menopause and hypertension related information was collected. 24 hour three day dietary recall was used to assess participants’ sodium consumption. Statistical package of social sciences (SPSS, version 23) was used to analyze the data. Findings were considered to be significant when p ≤ 0.05 and were considered highly significant when p ≤ 0.01.
Results: Majority of obese participants (26%) experienced hypertension as compared to non obese (22%) (p ≤ 0.05). The energy consumption among both groups was significantly lesser (p ≤ 0.01). Protein consumption for both groups was significantly greater (p ≤ 0.01). Carbohydrate and sodium consumption among both obese and non obese was highly significantly lesser (p ≤ 0.01). Fat consumption among both obese and non obese was highly significantly greater (p ≤ 0.01).
Conclusion: As BMI increased, systolic blood pressure also increases which may be the reason for the high prevalence of hypertension among obese women. Hence it can be concluded that obese participants should not consume foods high in sodium and fat. Also excess stress could lead to hypertension. Obese women should also have a control on the BMI.
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