Objective: This research was aimed at evaluating the relationship between obesity, socioeconomic status and high blood pressure (HBP) in volunteers living in western Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Materials and methods: 955 volunteers were evaluated; 31 % were male (aged 51.0±12.8 years old a weighing 78.4±13.6 kg) and 69 % female (aged 50.0±12.5 years old and weighing 69.8±13.4kg). Individuals having ≥140 mmHg systolic blood pressures (SBP) and ≥ 90 mmHg diastolic blood pressures (DBP) were classified as being hypertensive and those having ≥ 30 kg/m² body mass index (BMI) as being obese.
Results: HBP prevalence in this study was 35.1 % among males and 29.4 % in women. The percentage of men classified as having borderline HBP was also higher than that for women (20.9 % cf 16.7 %); 25.7 % of HBP women and 34.6 % HBP males were overweight and 48.3 % HBP women and 56.9 % males were obese. HBP distribution regarding socioeconomic status (high, middle and low income) had greater variation amongst women (cero %, 27.5 % and 37.3 %, respectively) than men (30.4 %, 36.2 % and 30.1 %, respectively).
Conclusion: This study provided consistent evidence of obesity being associate with HBP. Although this fact is widely known, what should be taken into consideration here is HBP regarding BMI category; normal, overweight and obese volunteers differed substantially between the genders.