Group comparisons of blood pressure and indices of obesity and salt intake in Pacific populations

Group comparisons of blood pressure and indices of obesity and salt intake from epidemiological studies conducted in the Pacific early in the 1980s are presented. The comparisons were of a rural-urban type, and showed a trend for a lower prevalence of hypertension and for lower mean blood pressures in adults from rural areas, compared with urban populations. Rural residents were also slimmer and appeared to have a lower salt intake than did urban dwellers. These findings give possible support to the role of adiposity and salt intake in the genesis of essential hypertension.