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The proportion of individuals with obesity-induced hypertension among total hypertensives in a general Japanese population: NIPPON DATA80, 90

European Journal of Epidemiology volume 22, pages 691–698 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The increased prevalence of obesity in Japan may contribute to the high prevalence of hypertension in Japan. In the present study, we calculated the odds ratio for hypertension in obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) using data from independent nationwide surveys conducted in 1980 and 1990. We estimated the percentage of hypertensives whose condition was due to obesity among total hypertensives in the general Japanese population. In the 1980 survey, 18.8% of 4,623 male participants were obese and 50.4% were hypertensive, whereas 22.6% of 5,893 female participants were obese and 41.1% were hypertensive. For both sexes, obese participants had a higher odds ratio for hypertension than non-obese participants (BMI < 25.0 kg/m2), and there was a significant dose–response relationship between BMI and the odds ratio for hypertension. Among all hypertensives, the percentage whose hypertension was due to obesity in 1980 and 1990 was 11.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.7–17.7%) and 15.3% (95% CI: 6.8–23.1%) for men and 19.3% (95% CI: 12.1–25.9%) and 22.3% (95% CI: 14.6–29.3%) for women, respectively. Approximately 80–90% of individuals with obesity-induced hypertension were in the 25.0 ≤ BMI < 30.0 kg/m2 category for both sexes in each year. In conclusion, we found that obesity-induced hypertension as a proportion of total hypertension increased between 1980 and 1990 for both sexes. Obesity now is playing a more important role in the high prevalence of hypertension in Japan than it was before.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all members of the Japanese Association of Public Health Center Directors and all staff of the public health centers that cooperated with the present study. The present study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Health and Welfare under the auspices of the Japanese Association for Cerebro-cardiovascular Disease Control, a Research Grant for Cardiovascular Diseases (7A-2) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and a Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant, Japan (Comprehensive Research on Aging and Health: H11-chouju-046, H14-chouju-003, H17-chouju-012, H19-chouju-ippan-014).

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tsukinowa-cho, Otsu City, Shiga, 520-2192, Japan

    Koshi Nakamura, Tomonori Okamura, Atsushi Hozawa, Takashi Kadowaki, Yoshitaka Murakami, Yoshikuni Kita & Hirotsugu Ueshima

  2. Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan

    Takehito Hayakawa

  3. The First Institute of Health Service, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Akira Okayama

Authors
  1. Koshi Nakamura
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  2. Tomonori Okamura
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  3. Takehito Hayakawa
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  4. Atsushi Hozawa
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  5. Takashi Kadowaki
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  6. Yoshitaka Murakami
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  7. Yoshikuni Kita
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  8. Akira Okayama
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  9. Hirotsugu Ueshima
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for the NIPPON DATA80, 90 Research Group

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Correspondence to Koshi Nakamura.

Additional information

NIPPON DATA80, 90 Research Group—Members of the Research Group are listed in the Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

List of the NIPPON DATA80, 90 Research group.

NIPPON DATA80, 90: “National Integrated Project for Prospective Observation of Non-communicable Disease And its Trends in the Aged.”

Chairman: Hirotsugu Ueshima (Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga).

Consultant: Osamu Iimura (Hokkaido JR Sapporo Hospital, Sapporo, Hokkaido), Teruo Omae (Health C&C Center, Hisayama, Kasuya, Fukuoka), Kazuo Ueda (Murakami Memorial Hospital, Nakatsu, Oita), Hiroshi Yanagawa (Saitama Prefectural University, Koshigaya, Saitama), Hiroshi Horibe (Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi).

Participating Researchers: Akira Okayama (The First Institute of Health Service, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Chyioda-ku, Tokyo), Kazunori Kodama, Fumiyoshi Kasagi (Department of Epidemiology, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Hiroshima), Tomonori Okamura, Yoshikuni Kita (Department of Health Science, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga), Takehito Hayakawa (Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima), Shinichi Tanihara (Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Fukuoka), Shigeyuki Saito (Second Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido), Kiyomi Sakata (Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, Morioka, Iwate), Yosikazu Nakamura (Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, Shimotsuke, Tochigi), Fumihiko Kakuno (Higashiomi Public Health Center, Higashiomi, Shiga).

Participating Research Associates: Toshihiro Takeuchi, Mitsuru Hasebe, Fumitsugu Kusano, Takahisa Kawamoto and members of 300 Public Health Centers in Japan, Masumi Minowa (Faculty of Humanities, Seitoku University, Matsudo, Chiba), Minoru Iida (Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, Kashiwara, Osaka), Tsutomu Hashimoto (Kinugasa General Hospital, Yokosuka, Kanagawa), Shigemichi Tanaka (Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Center, Teine Keijinkai, Sapporo, Hokkaido), Atsushi Terao (Health Promotion Division, Department of Public Health and Welfare, Shiga Prefecture, Otsu, Shiga), Katsuhiko Kawaminami (Department of Public Health Policy, National Institute of Public Health, Wako, Saitama), Koryo Sawai (The Japanese Association for Cerebro-cardiovascular Disease Control, Tokyo), Shigeo Shibata (Clinical Nutrition, Kagawa Nutrition University, Sakado, Saitama).

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Nakamura, K., Okamura, T., Hayakawa, T. et al. The proportion of individuals with obesity-induced hypertension among total hypertensives in a general Japanese population: NIPPON DATA80, 90. Eur J Epidemiol 22, 691–698 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-007-9168-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-007-9168-4

Keywords

  • Obesity
  • Body mass index
  • Hypertension
  • Japan