Study links hike in number of obese Americans to higher rates of hypertension

WASHINGTON A study published in the journal Hypertension has shown that rising rates of obesity are contributing to rising rates of high blood pressure.

At the same time, however, more of them are getting treatment for it.

The study, by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, analyzed patient data collected between 1998 and 2004, showing that 29 percent of adults in the United States had hypertension, compared to 24 percent during the period between 1988 and 1994. Thirty percent had prehypertension, or slightly elevated blood pressure that is a precursor to hypertension, meaning that less than half of Americans had normal blood pressure levels.