Association of hypertension with long-term overweight status and weight gain: the CroHort study.

Overweight is associated with hypertension, but longitudinal studies on the effect of weight gain on blood pressure are relatively rare. Aim of this study was to investigate association of long-term overweight status as well as of becoming overweight with hypertension. Odds of hypertension in 2008 were calculated for 1,383 respondents from Croatian Adult Health Cohort Study (CroHort) who had normal blood pressure in 2003. The results showed that for women both long-term overweight status and recently becoming overweight (in the last 5 years) were significantly associated with development of hypertension, while for men this was true only for long-term overweight. Prevention activities aimed at maintenance of normal body weight should be important part of primary prevention of hypertension.