A new study found that eating out at least once a week can increase one's blood pressure.
The study is the first to associate eating out with pre-hypertension risk, although earlier studies have linked eating out with higher calorie, fat and sodium intake.
Researchers at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore involved 501 participants aged 18 to 40 from Singapore to determine if regular eat outs cause high blood pressure. The participants were surveyed to know how often they eat out. Other data was also included in the study, such as blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), smoking and drinking habits and level of physical activity.
The analysis showed that 28 percent of the participants had high blood pressure or were considered pre-hypertensive; 38 percent of them said that they eat out at least 12 times a week.
The findings also showed that for every meal ordered in the restaurant, the risk of high blood pressure increases by six percent. The researchers also observed that those who regularly eat out tend to become overweight and develop smoking habits.
"While there have been studies conducted in the United States and Japan to find behaviors associated with hypertension, very few have surveyed a Southeast Asian population," Professor Tazeen Jafar, study author from the Health Services and Systems Programme at Duke-NUS, said in a news release.
"Our research plugs that gap and highlights lifestyle factors associated with pre-hypertension and hypertension that are potentially modifiable, and would be applicable to young adults globally, especially those of Asian descent."
The researchers recommended to physicians that they should remind their patients of the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and making healthy food choices. Although the study focused on the Southeast Asian lifestyle, the American habit of dining out is similar. According to the 2015 Pew Research Center survey, 44 percent of the Americans eat out at least once a week.
The study was published in the April 14 issue of the American Journal of Hypertension.
