Salt-rich food, sedentary lifestyle making youth vulnerable to high BP
If youth today is vulnerable to high blood pressure, then the culprits are consumption of sodium-rich junk and fast food and lack of any physical activities, say doctors.
If your mother scolds you for your chips-and-coke bingeing spree, then she is absolutely right. If your dad loses his cool every time you spend hours with your laptop, then he has a good reason to do so. Doctors have repeatedly been warning that consumption of fast foods and lack of physical activity are making youngsters more vulnerable to high blood pressure. This was among the important messages that emerged from doctors who took part in activities on the occasion of World Hypertension Day in Delhi.
Ghaziabad’s Yashoda Super Specilaity Hospital, which initiated the ‘BP check programme’ throughout the National Capital Region on Tuesday, saw a participation of over 3,000 people. And here’s what the doctors said. “What we found through this checkup was that youngsters are particularly vulnerable to high blood pressure,” said Rajat Arora, senior cardiologist at Yashoda Hospital.
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Experts have warned that hypertension is on the verge of becoming an ‘epidemic’ and a third of India’s population is likely to suffer from the disorder by 2020. “The rise in high BP among youngsters is because of sedentary lifestyle and consumption of sodium-rich fast foods,” Arora said.
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“There is strong evidence that links our current high salt intake to high blood pressure,” Arora noted. The solution is simple -- reduce your intake and watch the numbers go down. The greatest contributor to cardiovascular diseases is hypertension, which the medical profession believes is a result of a high sodium diet.
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In some people, sodium increases blood pressure because it results in excess fluid in the body, creating an added burden on the heart, Arora explained. Most people participating in the programme requested the hospital staff to make the BP check programme a regular feature.
