Association between sun-protective behaviors and hypertension: a cross-sectional study from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009 to 2014

BACKGROUND: In previous studies, sun-protective behaviors increased cardiovascular incidence. Our present article is to further analyze the potential relationship between sun-protective behaviors (staying in the shade, wearing long-sleeved clothing, and applying sunscreen) and hypertension. METHOD: The present cross-sectional study evaluated 8,613 participants (aged 20–60 years) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) obtained between 2009 and 2014. We performed multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between sun-protective behaviors and hypertension. Subgroup analysis was then performed. Multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to examine the relationship of sun-protective behaviors and each sun-protective behavior with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, stratified by sex and race. RESULTS: A total of 8,613 participants (weighted n = 127,909,475) were applied in our study, including 1,694 hypertensive subjects. Our study demonstrated that sun-protective behaviors of the 2–3 category were associated with increased risk of hypertension, but not with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In subgroup analysis, men, Mexican American, and 25 < BMI ≤ 30 who reported sun-protective behaviors (2–3) were prone to hypertension. Multiple linear regression models showed that non-Hispanic white men with sun-protective behaviors (2–3) were positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The association between other-Hispanic men with frequent wearing long-sleeved clothing and diastolic blood pressure was positively correlated. CONCLUSION: Sun-protective behaviors of the 2–3 category could increase the incidence of hypertension, but not increase systolic and diastolic blood pressure. We only found that non-Hispanic white men who reported sun-protective behaviors (2–3) were positively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These findings suggested that excessive sun-protective behaviors should be avoided. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-16439-4.