The scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health reported that Norwegians are showing an encouraging trend when it comes to average blood pressures.
So-called Tromsø survey shows that Norwegians’ blood pressure has fallen significantly, across all age groups, a trend that has continued for the last 40 years. According to senior researcher Inger Ariansen,
“It makes you wonder how much longer this strong trend can continue.”
Despite this good news, Norwegian researchers aren’t sure of the reason behind the drop. One of the reasons is a healthy food and a reasonably high level of the physical activity.
Healthier food helps to optimise the blood pressure
The scientists note that many Norwegians have become much heavier. That means there must be something else that is causing blood pressure to go down. But what was it?. The associate professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø said:
“We simply do not know why we see this positive development,”
Laila Arnesdatter Hopstock added.
Some possible reasons for the drop might be that Norwegians have decreased the amount of salt they eat, while eating more fruits and vegetables.
Health Survey in Nord Trøndelag (HUNT) survey figures for blood pressure in individuals in North Trøndelag go back farther in time than the Tromsø data. These HUNT data show a clear kink in the trend, and show that blood pressure numbers began to drop more steeply right around 1995.
