title: Association of high blood pressure with body mass index, smoking and physical activity in healthy young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between resting blood pressure (BP), smoking, physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) in Greek young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A standardised questionnaire and the Greek version of IPAQ-short were given to 1500 randomly selected health science students, in order to record smoking behaviour, PA status, BMI and resting BP. All healthy young adults aged 19-30 years old were eligible. The final size of the study cohort was 1249 students (522 men).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Males' BP was 129.2/77.0 mmHg, significantly higher than the females' values of 119.9/73.4 mmHg. Approximately 17% of the total population were classified as overweight and 3% as obese. In the overall population, smoking prevalence was 35.2%, with 15.3% being heavy smokers (≥21 cigs/d). Smoking prevalence did not differ significantly between sexes. The prevalence of health-enhancing PA (high PAclass) was only 14.0%, while 42.8% of the study population were classified as insufficiently active (low PAclass). Of the three lifestyle risk factors examined, only BMI was significantly and directly associated with systolic and diastolic BP levels. The prevalence of hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg) was significantly higher in men compared to women, and in obese and overweight participants compared to normal-weight subjects. Smoking and categorical PA (PAclass) were not correlated with BP. Continuous vigorous PAscore was significantly and directly associated with systolic BP, but only in males.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMI was significantly and directly associated with resting BP in both sexes. Smoking prevalence and PA status were not associated with BP in this sample of Greek young adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Technological Educational Institution (TEI) of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papathanasiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, TEI of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Efthimia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zerva
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, TEI of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zacharis
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, TEI of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papandreou
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, TEI of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Effie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papageorgiou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physiology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tzima
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, "P & Aglaia Kyriakou" Childrens' Hospital of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Georgakopoulos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physiology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Angelos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evangelou
keywords: Blood pressure; body mass index; obesity; physical activity; risk factors; smoking
references.citation: Hypertension. 2005 Jan;45(1):9-14
references.pmid: 15583075
references.citation: Clin Exp Hypertens. 2011;33(5):345-53
references.pmid: 21529313
references.citation: Hellenic J Cardiol. 2009 Jan-Feb;50(1):52-9
references.pmid: 19196621
references.citation: Eur J Public Health. 2011 Feb;21(1):63-8
references.pmid: 20142399
references.citation: Hypertension. 2003 Dec;42(6):1067-74
references.pmid: 14610096
references.citation: Eur Heart J. 2013 Jul;34(28):2159-219
references.pmid: 23771844
references.citation: Am J Hypertens. 2006 Jan;19(1):53-60
references.pmid: 16461191
references.citation: Hypertension. 2001 Feb;37(2):187-93
references.pmid: 11230269
references.citation: J Hypertens. 1997 Feb;15(2):127-34
references.pmid: 9469787
references.citation: Exp Physiol. 2005 Sep;90(5):683-8
references.pmid: 16105937
references.citation: Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2007 Feb;14(1):12-7
references.pmid: 17301622
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993 Jan;25(1):60-70
references.pmid: 8423758
references.citation: JAMA. 2013 Sep 4;310(9):959-68
references.pmid: 24002282
references.citation: Circulation. 2008 Jun 24;117(25):3171-80
references.pmid: 18559702
references.citation: Am Heart J. 1986 May;111(5):932-40
references.pmid: 3706114
references.citation: Child Care Health Dev. 2011 May;37(3):329-34
references.pmid: 21276031
references.citation: Eur J Epidemiol. 2007;22(6):369-78
references.pmid: 17333472
references.citation: Swiss Med Wkly. 2009 Sep 5;139(35-36):518-24
references.pmid: 19795526
references.citation: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Jul;16(7):1718-22
references.pmid: 18451778
references.citation: Curr Hypertens Rep. 2007 Dec;9(6):529-34
references.pmid: 18367017
references.citation: Hellenic J Cardiol. 2009 Jul-Aug;50(4):283-94
references.pmid: 19622498
references.citation: Prev Cardiol. 2003 Winter;6(1):8-16
references.pmid: 12624556
references.citation: BMJ. 1995 Sep 16;311(7007):715-8
references.pmid: 7549684
references.citation: Hypertension. 2010 Jul;56(1):49-55
references.pmid: 20516395
references.citation: Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2004 May;286(5):H1597-602
references.pmid: 15072967
references.citation: Prim Care Respir J. 2006 Apr;15(2):92-7
references.pmid: 16701767
references.citation: Curr Hypertens Rep. 2012 Apr;14(2):160-9
references.pmid: 22302531
references.citation: Curr Hypertens Rep. 2004 Jun;6(3):236-40
references.pmid: 15128478
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 1997 Jun;29(7):1422-31
references.pmid: 9180099
references.citation: Cardiovasc Res. 1996 Apr;31(4):633-9
references.pmid: 8689656
references.citation: J Gen Intern Med. 2014 Aug;29(8):1098-104
references.pmid: 24577758
references.citation: J Hum Hypertens. 2002 Feb;16(2):91-6
references.pmid: 11850765
references.citation: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Nov;35(11):1908-13
references.pmid: 14600558
references.citation: J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2005 Mar;7(3):165-70; quiz 171-2
references.pmid: 15785158
references.citation: J Hum Hypertens. 2009 Jun;23 (6):385-90
references.pmid: 19158825
references.citation: Int J Epidemiol. 2004 Dec;33(6):1345-52
references.pmid: 15218014
references.citation: Am Heart J. 2010 Jul;160(1):166-70
references.pmid: 20598988
references.citation: Diabetes. 2011 Oct;60(10):2441-9
references.pmid: 21948998
references.citation: Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2003 Dec;49(8):1305-9
references.pmid: 14984002
references.citation: Hellenic J Cardiol. 2012 Jan-Feb;53(1):17-25
references.pmid: 22275739
references.citation: Am J Cardiol. 1990 Jan 1;65(1):84-8
references.pmid: 2294686
references.citation: Blood Press. 2005;14(2):80-5
references.pmid: 16036484
references.citation: Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005 May;25(5):989-94
references.pmid: 15731493
references.citation: Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2010 Aug;17(4):380-6
references.pmid: 19940775
references.citation: Prev Med. 2004 Jul;39(1):182-90
references.pmid: 15208001
references.citation: Hypertension. 2003 Jan;41(1):183-7
references.pmid: 12511550
references.citation: J Intern Med. 1994 Sep;236(3):323-9
references.pmid: 8077890
references.citation: Obes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Sep-Oct;8(5):e426-34
references.pmid: 25263832
references.citation: Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2011 Apr;18(2):139-43
references.pmid: 21297467
references.citation: Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2010 Sep;20(7):536-51
references.pmid: 20708148
references.citation: JAMA. 2012 Feb 15;307(7):704-12
references.pmid: 22337681
references.citation: Circulation. 1993 Aug;88(2):562-71
references.pmid: 8339419
references.citation: Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2008 Apr;15(2):130-9
references.pmid: 18391637
references.citation: Ann Nutr Metab. 2006;50(4):330-8
references.pmid: 16825761
references.citation: Lancet. 2005 Oct 1;366(9492):1197-209
references.pmid: 16198769
references.citation: Am J Hypertens. 1998 Oct;11(10):1153-63
references.pmid: 9799031
references.citation: Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2008 Jun;15(3):239-46
references.pmid: 18525377
references.citation: Circulation. 1996 Jan 1;93(1):60-6
references.pmid: 8616942
references.citation: Sports Med. 2004;34(5):307-16
references.pmid: 15107009
references.citation: Nicotine Tob Res. 2009 Aug;11(8):969-76
references.pmid: 19528358
references.citation: Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011 Oct 21;8:115
references.pmid: 22018588
references.citation: Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. 2013 May;56(5-6):786-94
references.pmid: 23703499
references.citation: Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2013 Sep 25;378(1-2):1-14
references.pmid: 22750719
references.citation: Environ Health Prev Med. 2010 Mar;15(2):115-20
references.pmid: 19802656
references.citation: Lancet. 2005 Oct 29-Nov 4;366(9496):1578-82
references.pmid: 16257345
references.citation: Public Health Nutr. 2004 May;7(3):461-5
references.pmid: 15153277
references.citation: Proc Am Thorac Soc. 2008 Feb 15;5(2):136-43
references.pmid: 18250205