Physical activity and prevalence of hypertension in a population-based sample of Brazilian adults and elderly Felipe F. Reichert a,b, ⁎ , 1 , Mario R. Azevedo b,c, 1 ,2 , Anelise Breier b, 1 , Aline M. Gerage a,3 a Center of Physical Education and Sports, Department of Physical Education, State University of Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, km 380, Campus Universitário, Caixa-Postal: 6001, CEP: 86051-990, Londrina, PR, Brazil b Post-graduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Rua Marechal Deodoro,1160, Centro, CEP: 96020-220, Pelotas, RS, Brazil c Faculdades Atlântico de Sul de Pelotas, Anhanguera Educacional, Avenida Fernando Osório, 2209, Três Vendas, CEP: 96055-005, Pelotas, RS, Brazil abstract article info Available online 23 June 2009 Keywords: Epidemiology Brazil Blood pressure Physical exercise Ageing Objectives. a) To determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors and b) to establish the impact of past (i.e. adolescence) and current physical activity on hypertension. Methods. A cross-sectional study of people aged 40 years or more living in the urban area of Pelotas — Brazil (2003). Hypertension was assessed by self-report of medical diagnosis. Individuals were considered active in adolescence if they reported regular physical activity practice between the ages 10 and 19 years. In adulthood, individuals who performed ≥150 min/week of leisure-time physical activities were considered active. Other variables studied included skin color, age, smoking, body mass index and socioeconomic status. Results. 1696 individuals were interviewed (response rate N 95%). Prevalence of hypertension was 34.4% (CI 95% 32.1–36.7) and varied considerably among population subgroups. Current physical activity showed no association with hypertension. Physical activity in adolescence was associated with a decreased risk of adulthood hypertension in the crude analyses for women (p b 0.001). However, after adjusting for potential confounders and mediators, this protection was no longer significant 1.20 (CI 95% 0.93–1.55). Conclusions. Prevalence of hypertension is high among Brazilians and markedly different among population subgroups. There was no robust evidence of association between adolescence physical activity practice and hypertension in later life. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Despite the well-known effects of hypertension on health (Lewington et al., 2002), its prevalence has increased in several countries (Ostchega et al., 2007, Schroder et al., 2007). In Brazil, the prevalence of hypertension is estimated to be 9% in children and adolescents (Moura et al., 2004), 24% in adults (Marcopito et al., 2005) and 46% in elderly (Zaitune et al., 2006). Thus, hypertension is a public health matter and studies investigating its associated factors are warranted. The underlying causes of hypertension are unknown. However, the literature has identified that factors such as body composition, race, age, and gender are associated with its occurrence (Joint National Committee on Prevention Detection Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, 2003). Furthermore, physical activity plays a bene- ficial role in both prevention and treatment of elevated blood pressure in youth and adulthood (Hagberg et al., 2000, Hernelahti et al., 2004). This non-pharmacological alternative has also other beneficial effects on health (Bauman, 2004) and many activities are virtually inexpen- sive and accessible to all individuals. Therefore, promotion of physical activity is important to tackle not only hypertension but other morbidities. Weight bearing activities may have long term effects on the musculoskeletal system. For example, active adolescents have lower risks of osteoporosis in later life (Rideout et al., 2006). However, one could argue that this effect is mediated by adulthood physical activity, since active adolescents are more likely to be active in adulthood (Gordon-Larsen et al., 2004, Kraut et al., 2003). We addressed this issue and found that active adolescents had lower risks of osteoporosis even after adjustment for confounders and mediators, including adulthood level of physical activity (Siqueira et al., 2009). Analogously, we hypothesized that adolescent physical activity might have a long term effect on blood pressure. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to explore the impact of past (i.e. adolescent) and current physical activity on the prevalence of hypertension. We further explored the association between hyperten- sion and demographics, socioeconomic level, body mass index and Preventive Medicine 49 (2009) 200–204 ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +55 43 3371 47 72. E-mail address: ffreichert@gmail.com (F.F. Reichert). 1 Fax: +55 53 3284 1300. 2 Fax: +55 53 3321 5531. 3 Fax: +55 43 3371 47 72. 0091-7435/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.06.009 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ypmed