Nearly 23 percent of the urbanites in four city corporations of Bangladesh have hypertension, a common risk among city dwellers that leads to several life-threatening complications, according to a study.
Also, 14 percent of the people are at higher risk of being hypertensive.
The findings of the study "Hypertension and Obesity Load in Bangladesh: How Large is the Iceberg?" were unveiled in Dhaka Thursday.
A total of 48,644 participants were screened in Narayanganj, Cumilla, Mymensingh and Rangpur to measure their blood pressure, height and weight to calculate hypertension status and the body mass index.
The study was conducted under the Strengthening Urban Public Health System Project co-implemented by Save the Children Bangladesh and South Asia Field Epidemiology and Technology Network Bangladesh.
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According to the study, the prevalence of hypertension is higher among men (24 percent) than women (22 percent).
Among the participants, the prevalence of obesity is 8 percent, while almost 28 percent of participants are overweight.
The prevalence of obesity was higher for female participants (10 percent) compared to male ones (7 percent).