Salt intake, obesity, and pre-hypertension among Iranian adults: A cross-sectional study

Objective: Overweight and obese subjects are prone to have a high salt intake. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between salt intakev and prehypertension among overweight and obese subjects. Methodology: This was across-sectional study performed in the setting of a community-based intervention: the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program (IHHP). In total, 806 subjects with normal blood pressure or prehypertension entered the study. Salt intake, BMI, and blood pressure were measured using standard methods. Results: The salt intake was 9.19 +/- 5.34, 11.62 +/- 6.87, and 11.64 +/- 6.68 gm/d in normal-weight, overweight and obese subjects with normal blood pressure, respectively (p = 0.0001). The values for normal-weight, overweight and obese prehypertensive subjects were 12.04 +/- 8.03, 12.41 +/- 6.45, and 12.52 +/- 7.63 gm/d, respectively (p = 0.236). The unadjusted odds ratio for prehypertension among obese subjects was 4.78 (95% CI 2.38-9.60). The odds ratio was 4.73 (95% CI 2.19-10.19), 4.65 (95% CI 2.15-10.05), and 3.37 (95% CI 1.45-7.85) after adjustment for socio demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and salt intake, respectively. An increase of one gram per day in the daily salt intake increased the probability of having prehypertension by 5% after adjusting for age, education, BMI, and lifestyle factors. Conclusion: The findings of this study support a role for high salt intake in the high blood pressure of overweight and obese subjects.