OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between nutrient intake and the incidence of hypertension in middle-aged Chinese.

METHODSA prospective study was conducted in 653 men and women of Beijing and Guanzhou, aged 35-59 years. The subjects had no hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases at baseline risk factor and dietary survey carried out in 1983-1984. The baseline information of nutrient intake was collected by using a 24-hour recall method on three consecutive days. The incidence of hypertension was determined through the follow-up survey in 1993-1994. The subjects were categorized into three groups according to tritiles of each baseline nutrient intake and the relative risk for hypertension incidence in each group was calculated by using the logistic regression model with the group of lowest risk as the referent.

RESULTSDuring the period of 1983-1984 to 1993-1994, 170 among 653 subjects had developed hypertension; 92 were men and 78 were women. After adjustment for other risk factors, the relative risk of hypertension for different protein intake groups was 1.0, 0.87 (95% CI 0.54-1.40) and 0.52 (95% CI 0.32-0.87), respectively, and the p value for trend analysis was 0.011; the relative risk of hypertension for different sodium intake groups was 1.0, 1.12 (95% CI 0.66-1.88) and 1.85 (95% CI 1.09-3.14), respectively, and the p value for trend analysis was 0.015. There was no significant relationship between the other nutrient intake and hypertension incidence.

CONCLUSIONAmong middle-aged Chinese, protein and sodium may be two of the most important dietary factors affecting the incidence of hypertension. Increasing protein intake and reducing sodium intake might be helpful for the prevention of hypertension.