Trends in overweight, obesity and blood pressure among Israeli working adults - Implications for public health

Backgrounds: Reports from the last decade suggest an epidemic of overweight and obesity in Western countries. Since obesity has been associated with increased blood pressure, we aimed to describe the secular trends in overweight and obesity and blood pressure among Israeli working adults. Methods: Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in the setting of the Civil Servant Registry, Tel-Aviv District Health Office, Ministry of Health, Israel, including 1949 adults aged 17-69 years, who entered the Israeli civil service in 1993 and 2002. Results: Compared with other reports, the overall prevalence rate (32.2%) of overweight and obesity was relatively low in our study population, however, an increase of 34% in the odds of being overweight or obese was noted during the study period (adjusted odds ratio: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.09-1.65). Despite this increase, the adjusted mean systolic blood pressure significantly fell from 119.3 (18.2) to 117.0 (14.3) mmHg (P < 0.001) during the 10-year period, and the respective mean diastolic blood pressure declined from 74.5 (9.0) mmHg to 73.2 (9.8) mmHg (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Israel joined the universal trend of increase in overweight and obesity. This study demonstrated a concomitant decline in blood pressure that could not be attributed to antihypertensive treatment. The decrease in blood pressure could partially explain the decrease in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality seen in Israel.