Correlation between Physical Activity Levels and DietaryPatterns with Hypertension in Elderly Women with Metabolic Syndrome

The identification of individuals' physical activity levels and different dietary patterns can play a leading role in reducing the incidence of hypertension. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between physical activity level and dietary patterns with hypertension in elderly women with metabolic syndrome.

This descriptive study included 350 elderly women (mean age: 63.41±1.08 years, mean body weight: 85.33 ± 3.47 kg, mean height: 157.08±3.38 cm, and mean mass body index: 34.61±1.61 kg/m2) who participated in this study voluntarily. The metabolic syndrome was defined based on the International Federation of Diabetes. Data were collected using questionnaires, blood sampling, anthropometric measurements, and blood pressure values. All of the variables were measured following the standards of the World Health Organization and the Adult Therapy Panel. Moreover, the data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and multiple linear regressions.

According to the results, there was a significant reverse correlation between high physical activity level and healthy dietary pattern with elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure (P<0.05). The results also showed that healthy dietary patterns correlated significantly with moderate (P<0.015) and high (P<0.009) physical activity levels. Moreover, there was a reverse significant relationship between western dietary patterns and low physical activity (P<0.013).

Based on the results of this study, an increase in physical activity levels and the adherence to healthy dietary patterns are effective in reducing hypertension.