The effect of diet and brisk walking exercise on blood pressure control of males prehypertension

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary approaches to stop hypertension for Indonesian at Jakarta (DASHI-J) and brisk walking exercise on the reduction of body weight and blood pressure of males prehypertension. A randomised clinical trial was conducted in Jakarta for 100 subjects, aged 25 – 55 years. Subjects were randomly assigned to a DASHI-J diet group (A), a brisk walking exercise group (B), a DASHI-J and brisk walking exercise group (C), and a control group (D). A and C groups received diet for lunch, snack and dinner five days a week for two months. The DASHI-J was given for lunch, snack, early dinner and 45 minutes brisk walking exercise for five days a week for two months. At the baseline, the mean of body weight, body mass index (BMI), visceral fat (VF), pulse pressure, blood fat, and blood electrolit were not significantly different among the four groups. After two months of intervension, the body weight, BMI, body fat, visceral fat, waist circumference, systole, diastole, and cholesterol serum of the groups reduce significantly (α<0.05). The highest reduction was in the DASHI-J and brisk walking exercise which reduced body weight 4.18 kg, BMI 1.50 kg/m2, and blood pressure 12.00/8.6 mmHg. This implies that DASHI-J and brisk walking exercise play a significant role in reducing body weight, BMI, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure.