BMI Versus Fitness In Hypertension Risk



sharma-obesity-blood-pressureA higher BMI has long been associated with increased risk of hypertension (and there are many important physiological mechanisms at play to account for this relationship).

Now a study by Crump and colleagues published in JAMA Intern Medicine suggests that some of this risk may be mitigated by increased physical fitness.

The cohort study involving over 1.5 million Swedish young men in Sweden, who underwent standardized aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and BMI measurements obtained at a military conscription examination and were followed for up to 40 years.

Almost 100,000 men went on to develop hypertension, whereby both high BMI and low aerobic capacity (but not muscular strength) were associated with increased risk of hypertension, independent of family history or socioeconomic factors.

A combination of high BMI (overweight or obese vs normal) and low aerobic capacity (lowest vs highest tertile) was associated with the highest risk of hypertension.

The association with aerobic fitness was apparent at every level of BMI.

Form this study the authors conclude that high BMI and low aerobic capacity in late adolescence are associated with higher risk of hypertension in adulthood.

Although one must also be cautious in assuming causality with regard to associations found in such studies, the observations are certainly compatible with the notion that increased cardiorespiratory fitness may well mitigate some of the impact of increased BMI on hypertension risk.

@DrSharma
Edmonton, AB