A Comparative Study of Relationship Between Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Dietary Choices and Blood Pressure

Regardless of age, race, or gender, hypertension is a major independent risk factor for coronary artery disease.The World Health Organization states that hypertension is to blame for at least 45% of heart disease fatalities and 51% of stroke deaths.In the past, many people thought vegetarianism was strange and faddish, but nowadays, scientific evidence recognizes that vegetarian meals, when properly planned, are nutritionally adequate and offer positive health benefits in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.The purpose of the present study was to find out the prevalence of hypertension and its association with their choice of food (vegetarian or nonvegetarian).It also aimed to find out different demographic factors and their relationship with hypertension.The study was an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study.The adult population (male and female) of Podrah, Howrah Municipal Corporation, West Bengal, India, was the subject of this study.Purposive sampling method was adopted.Based on a series of standardised questionnaires that had been pretested, the survey was conducted.The anthropometric measurements were taken following standard protocol.The association between two qualitative data sets was calculated by Pearson's chi-square test, and a "P' value was determined for understanding its association.All the statistical analysis was performed by SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20.0).'P' value is equal to or less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.The study analysed here compares the effects of a vegetarian food habits compared to a non-vegetarian food habits with regard to blood pressure, body composition, and other parameters.Significant association observed between these two food choices, whereas vegetarian food habits choices have a lower percentage of hypertension than the other one.Further research needs to be conducted with a larger number of subjects to prevent possible skewing of the data.