Healthy lifestyle - normal blood pressure

published on 5/16/12 12:05 PM

Photo: BGNES

Doctors call hypertension the "silent killer". Not knowing that they have high blood pressure, many people become victims of heart attacks and strokes. According to the Bulgarian Hypertension League, over 1.53 million Bulgarians know they have high blood pressure. These people monitor their condition, or at least what they have been recommended by their doctors to take appropriate medication. However, if we add to this figure those who are unaware that they have this condition, the number of hypertensive patients in the country will exceed two million people. These figures explain to a certain extent why Bulgaria continues to lead the European ranking in the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases. Other factors include an aging population, poor prevention of hypertension, the unhealthy lifestyle and diet of most Bulgarians.

For the 8th consecutive year, on May 17th doctors urge us to give some time to thinking about how to reduce or eliminate these risk factors. The reason is the World Hypertension Day, which this year goes under the motto: "Healthy Lifestyle – Healthy Blood Pressure." Particularly worrying is the fact that the age of patients is sharply falling. The cardiovascular risk increases when hypertension is combined with high cholesterol, lack of exercise, and obesity - factors related to diet and lifestyle. And since hypertension is transmitted by inheritance, it is important that in families where there is a person with high blood pressure, the children be paid more careful attention, says Prof. Dr. Svetla Torbova, chairperson of the Bulgarian Hypertension League. She firmly believes that childhood and adolescence are the period in which we should build healthy eating and exercise habits. The data from several studies on the problems of hypertension conducted over the years by the National Center for Public Health and Analysis:
"Unfortunately, the trends reported are unfavorable”, says Prof. Veselka Duleva, head of Food and Nutrition at the National Center for Public Health and Analysis. “The last study conducted to assess the nutrition of children of school age from the 1st to 12th grade and cardiovascular risks was last year, jointly with the department of pediatrics at the Medical University in Sofia. The survey covered 4,338 students and found that overweight children are more than 30 percent. Of these, over 12 per cent are obese. For comparison - the results of a similar survey conducted in 1998 indicate that there were 23% of overweight children and only 4-5 per cent of obesity. The fact that the number of children with such problems has dramatically risen is truly alarming. Now we are trying to impose a model of healthy eating in adolescents and this is a priority in the national food policy. The aim is to dramatically reduce the intake of foods high in salt and sugar such as crisps, waffles, muffins, and fried pasta at the expense of fish, fruits and vegetables. Despite our efforts, however, in recent years to promote healthy eating among children and the adoption of legal measures, the data show that only 6 percent of students eat fruits and vegetables daily. The data on the physical activity of adolescents is also alarming. Only 24 percent of the polled students say they are actively engaged in sports. For the rest, the lack of physical exercise and the long hours spent in front of the computer and the TV are turning into a real problem. The combination of unhealthy diets and low physical activity in children are a risk factor for the onset of a cardiovascular disease in later life. This is why many major diseases characteristic for the more mature age such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes already occur in children."

On the occasion of the World Hypertension Day marked today on May 17, in big cities - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Pleven, special centers for free blood pressure measurement will be opened in Bulgaria’s big cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Pleven where people will be given health information materials and will be able to fill out questionnaires on healthy habits.

English Rossitsa Petcova

По публикацията работи: Diana Hristakieva

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Healthy lifestyle - normal blood pressure

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