Federal health officials say the expanding waistlines and higher body mass index of young adults are causing unexpected problems, including an increase in diabetes, kidney disease and even arthritis.
Now, researchers from the University of North Carolina report that blood pressure, too, among 24- to 32-year-olds may be much higher than previously thought. In 2008, a whopping 19 percent of participants in a federal survey — one out of every five — had high blood pressure. The condition, also known as hypertension, was defined as a reading of more than 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mmHg).
The findings are published in the online journal Epidemiology. Researchers analyzed data from federal surveys of teenage health started in the mid-1990s, called the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. That study, known as
Add Health
, is funded by the National Institutes of Health and involves more than 14,000 participants.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
