One of the new research says that “Even Small Weight
Gains Raise Blood Pressure in college students”
As a college student, you may be happy simply not to have
gained the "Freshman 15." But a University of Illinois study shows
that as little as 1.5 pounds per year is enough to raise blood pressure in that
age group, and the effect was worse for young women.
"In our study, a small weight gain was enough to
raise a college student's systolic blood pressure by 3 to 5 points. If young
people continue to gain 1.5 pounds a year and think it doesn't matter, they're
misleading themselves and increasing their risk for heart disease," said
Margarita Teran-Garcia, a U of I professor of food science and human nutrition.
Data were collected from 795 18- to 20-year-old
applicants to the Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi in Mexico who weren't
accepted to the university but reapplied the next year. The study assessed
changes in BMI and body weight over one year and explored whether the
applicants experienced changes in blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
One-year changes in body weight were associated with
increased blood pressure for both men and women. In the 25 percent of the
applicants who had a weight gain of 5 percent or more, that gain was associated
with higher blood pressure. The changes were more significant for women than
for men, she said.
"The good news is that the reverse was also true.
Women who lost 5 percent of their body weight saw reductions in their blood
pressure," she said.
The harmful effects of weight gain may be especially
pronounced among Mexicans, a group that develops heart disease risk factors at
much younger ages and at lower BMIs than comparable groups in the United States.
Almost 31 percent of Mexican adults have hypertension, ranging from 13 percent
of adults in their twenties to 60 percent of adults age 60 and over, she said.
"We'd like to learn how much high blood pressure is
caused by genetics and how much is lifestyle related and propose interventions
for persons of Mexican descent in the United States who have a family history
of hypertension and heart disease," she said.
Teran-Garcia worries that doctors don't take weight gain
and small increases in blood pressure seriously enough in this age group.
"There are very few programs that make college-age
people aware of the health problems associated with even small weight gains and
encourage them to make lifestyle changes to combat it. Physical activity is
important, and many young adults are not getting the recommended 30 minutes to
1 hour a day of exercise," she said.
She added that 18- to 20-year-olds are at the perfect age
for intervention and education. "If we can convince these young people
that small changes add up to bigger changes and health problems that could be
prevented over time, the chronic diseases associated with obesity may never
develop," she said.
The study is part of the Up Amigos project, a
collaboration between scientists at the U of I and the Universidad Autonoma de
San Luis Potosi. The researchers are following the 10,000 yearly applicants to
the Mexican university to learn how changes in BMI and weight affect the
students' health over time.
The article, "One-year follow-up changes in weight
are associated with changes in blood pressure in young Mexican adults,"
was published in a recent issue of Public Health. Co-authors are F.C.D.
Andrade, I Vasquez-Vidal, and T. Flood of the U of I and C. Aradillas-Garcia,
J.M. Vargas-Morales, and E. Medina-Cerda of the Universidad Autonoma de San
Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Psychtronics.com gives the only interesting topics of psychology and you need not to be a professional to understand the articles in the psychtronics. They are easy to understand to every one and it is mainly for the college students and Psychiatrists.
Like us in FB to get Updates: www.facebook.com/psychtronics
Post a Comment