Twenty-four hour ambulatory blood pressure reference values in Africans.

Objective: We aimed to establish reference values for 24 h ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring in an African community.

Patients And Methods: We randomly recruited 1219 participants of African ancestry from Soweto, a township in Johannesburg. Twenty-four hour ABP was measured using ABP monitors (model 90207; Spacelab).

Obesity masks the relationship between dietary salt intake and blood pressure in people of African ancestry: the impact of obesity on the relationship between sodium and blood pressure.

Previous studies conducted to investigate the relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure in our African population have yielded contradictory results. With the high prevalence of obesity in this population, it is possible that these contradictory findings are due to the masking effects of obesity on this relationship. We measured 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure and 24-hour urine excretion on 547 South Africans of African ancestry.

Low levels of physical activity in female adolescents cause overweight and obesity: are our schools failing our children?

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among female adolescents is a global health problem. In developing countries such as South Africa, this increase is often associated with urbanisation and the adoption of a Western lifestyle. Two aspects of the Western lifestyle that contribute to the development of overweight and obesity are a decrease in physical activity levels and an increase in the consumption of energy-dense food, high in fats and refined sugar.