Prevalence of hypertension among the indigenous population in North‐East India: Is this a consequence of “nutritional transition”?

Abstract

Objectives: This article aims to understand the influence of residential status on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among adult Angami Naga of Nagaland.Methods: A total number of 194 (100 rural and 94 urban) adult Angami Naga participated in the study. Blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, was measured for each participant. Nutritional status was evaluated through body mass index. Metabolic health was measured through waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and percent body fat (%BF). Multiple regression analysis was done to examine the influence of residential status and other bio-social factors on the prevalence of obesity and hypertension.Results: Results indicate high prevalence of systolic hypertension among urban residents, in both males (29.6% Urban vs. 20.4% Rural ; p > .05) and females (17.4% Urban vs. 11.6% Rural ; p > .05), with gender inequality favoring females. Similar trend was observed in diastolic hypertension as well. On the other hand, obesity was found to be greater in rural males (8.3% Urban vs.10.2% Rural ; p = .002), and urban females (11.6% Urban vs. 3.5% Rural ; p > .05). However in % BF, only negligible percentages of urban females (2.3% Urban vs. 0.0% Rural ; p > .05) were found to be moderately overweight or obese and no males were found to be overweight. Further, regression analyzes indicate that age, sex, and residential status are the most important (p < .001) causal factors behind the prevalence of obesity and hypertension among the Angami Naga. Conclusions: It was observed that elderly urban males were the most susceptible section of this community in developing CVD risk factors related vulnerabilities. However, we propose understanding this prevalence from an evolutionary approach of physiological mechanism toward nutritional transition in Angami Naga, like many other indigenous populations of northeast India.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism and arterial blood pressure among the Tawang Monpa of Eastern Himalayan Mountains: Is there a signature of natural selection?

“…The evolutionary significance of sex differences in anthropometric and physiological measures is still unclear, as the trend is not comparable across human populations. However, in line with the present study, sex differences in physiological attributes were also reported in previous studies [ 17 , 21 – 23 ].…”