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To determine the value of weight reduction on blood pressure, we randomly allocated 60 untreated, mildly hypertensive, obese individuals to a no-treatment control group or to a behaviourly-oriented weight loss ('diet') programme administered by professional dietitians. Behavioural techniques included self-monitoring, shaping, reinforcement and modelling. Subjects were reassessed after six months by an observer who was unaware of their study group. Fifty-four subjects (90%) completed the study. Diet subjects lost 4.1 kg and controls only 0.8 kg (P = 0.018). However, neither systolic nor diastolic blood pressures differed. The chance that we missed a clinically important diastolic difference of 6 mmHg (our pre-study target) is less than 1%. We conclude that our weight loss programme was successful in reducing weight but that weight loss is not useful in lowering blood pressure in mild, otherwise untreated hypertensives.
Haynes et al. (Mon,) studied this question.