Effects of reducing diet and increased leisure time physical activity on hypertension associated with obesity

The study examined the effects of energy restriction and increased leisure time physical activity on the body mass, body fat, and blood pressure. A group of moderately obese women (120-160% of ideal body mass) referred to the Dietetic Unit as out-patients, were assigned to a reducing diet and increased activities. The diet provided an average of 4.18 MJ (bout 1000 kcalories), with a reduced salt intake of 0.5 g per day, enriched with cellulose and supplemented by trace elements and vitamins. Increased leisure time activities consisted in one-hour walking a day at the least and ten-minute light gymnastics. The average reduction in the blood pressure obtained in the study was 19 mmHg systolic and 10 mmHg diastolic in the non-exercising group. The exercised subjects had a greater reduction in the systolic (23 mmHg) and diastolic (11 mmHg) blood pressures. The significant correlation was not found between the body mass loss and the blood pressure decrease. It was observed that the normal blood pressure was achieved in about two thirds of the patients when they had lost 9 to 132 percent of their body mass, indicating that the achievement of a desirable body mass is not essential for the sizeable reduction in the blood pressure. Although this study demonstrates that a combined nutritional-physical activity intervention program may be effective in reducing a high blood pressure, it does not show a distinction between the body mass loss and physical activity as mediating factors.