Essay Example on Hypertension, blood pressure, and diet to prevent it

Subcategory:

Nutrition

Category:

Health

Words:

408

Pages:

2

Views:

2861
Hypertension is the clinical term given to the blood vessels having raised blood pressure Lim et al 2012 Joffres et al 2013 Makridakis and DiNicolantonio 2014. Blood pressure occurs when the force of blood pushes against the walls of arteries as it is pumped to the heart Makridakis and DiNicolantonio 2014. The higher the pressure means the heart works harder which overtime can increase the prevalence of conditions such as heart attacks stroke, heart failure, kidney disease and can affect the quality of life in individuals Lim et al 2012 Makridakis and DiNicolantonio 2014. Moreover, high blood pressure is a global risk factor Lim et al 2012 statistics have shown that one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure however, as it is a silent disease with no visible symptoms many individuals may not know they have high blood pressure until they get their blood pressure taken Joffres et al 2013. Research in the cause of high blood pressure has found only a small percentage of people with treated hypertension are within the desired threshold Lim et al 2012. High blood pressure is a multifaceted illness that includes factors such as genetics lifestyle and behaviors. Non-pharmacological treatments have been found to reduce the risk of high blood pressure in Ha 2014.

This includes maintenance of healthy BMI index engaging in physical activity, limited alcohol intake, low salt intake at 6g day following DASH Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension diet which includes increased consumption of fruit and vegetables, low fat and dairy products reducing, saturated and total fat intake Ha 2014. Specifically, the DASH diet recommends the following foods to lower blood pressure consumption of vegetables and fruits 4-5 servings p/d, low-fat dairy foods, 2-3 servings p/d, grains 6-8 servings p/d, protein 6 servings p/d, nuts legumes 4-5 servings p/week all of which should total 2 000 calories per day for adults. A negative factor of the DASH diet guide is that the servings do not specify how much 1 serving equals. Therefore, it could be difficult for individuals to quantify how much a serving is which could lead to overconsumption or under consumption of calories, moreover it could possibly increase the risk of malnutrition of nutrients or weight gain could occur, if the servings are not measured accurately.

In comparison to the UK Eatwell guide similar dietary recommendations are included however, there are no recommendations of portion sizes which could be a negative factor. The rationale for choosing blood pressure as a nutrition-related issue includes awareness of two objectives: 1 Provide information on the association between diet and blood pressure, 2 Educate the students about choosing lower salt food options. This essay will focus on critically evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the public health nutrition event aimed at university students including the stages of planning and pre-delivery of the event. It is well regarded that students have a poor diet due to lack of time, lack of nutritional knowledge, financial costs lack of resources and ease of access to unhealthy ready meals and takeaway foods. However, the consumption of high energy-dense foods containing high levels of sodium can cause hypertension. Furthermore, global studies have found that people who consume canteen food and ready meals at university have a higher salt intake irrespective of being a student or staff Park et al 2009 Rasmussen et al 2010 Ahn et al 2013. A study on twenty-eight students aged 18 and 25 years old aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary salt intake and blood pressure of young university adults Mitra and Lim 2017. The results found mean salt intake of adults ranged from 5.71g day to 20.02 g/day Mitra and Lim 2017 which surpasses the National Nutrition of Malaysia recommendation by 5g/day. Results also indicated mean systolic blood pressure SBP was 104 43 1 68 mmHg and the mean diastolic blood pressure was 66 46 1 23 mmHg although a positive relationship was found with salt intake and SBP it was not statistically significant p 0 30 which could possibly suggest underreporting of identified sources of dietary salt as it was an interviewer-administered questionnaire the participant might have under-reported Mitra and Lim 2017.

As indicated above in the literature the topic of blood pressure and its association with salt intake in students was one of the main reasons for choosing this topic as a group. Teamwork refers to all members in a group using their skills to work collaboratively by contributing ideas sharing the workload, accepting and learning from helpful criticism and giving positive feedback too. According to Belbin's theory, there are nine roles that need to be occupied within any team. Shaper Coordinator Plant Resource Investigator Monitor Evaluator Specialist Teamworker Implementer Completer Finisher. Although there are nine roles it does not mean nine people need to be in a group instead of individuals who will have more than one role. The author's role included being the coordinator by setting out tasks to the other team members identifying aims of the event organizing meeting times ordering resources for the event emailing draft work and asking for feedback. A negative characteristic of a coordinator is possibly being seen as bossy by delegating tasks out to other team members, however, if there was not a coordinator in the group there would be no structure and team members might not know what tasks to complete. In addition, the author was also the implementer in the group.

Write and Proofread Your Essay
With Noplag Writing Assistance App

Plagiarism Checker

Spell Checker

Virtual Writing Assistant

Grammar Checker

Citation Assistance

Smart Online Editor

Start Writing Now

Start Writing like a PRO

Start