Excessive physical activity duration may be a risk factor for hypertension in young and middle-aged populations

Physical inactivity is known to cause many health problems globally each year. However, evidence regarding the interaction between excessive physical activity (PA) and blood pressure in young and middle-aged populations is limited. A multistage, stratified, random cluster sampling design was adopted to recruit representative samples. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and undergo physical examinations. Associations between prehypertension, hypertension and PA durations were examined by multivariable logistic regression. Overall, 8206 subjects (4110 men, 50.1%) aged 15 to 45 years were enrolled. The prevalence rates of prehypertension and hypertension were 45.7% and 5.0%, respectively. Among the 1913 participants who performed moderate-intensity PA for more than 700 min/wk, 118 had hypertension (6.2%) and 845 had prehypertension (44.2%). Among the 1003 participants who performed vigorous-intensity PA for more than 450 min/wk, 82 had hypertension (8.2%) and 479 had prehypertension (47.8%). Long-term and sustained PA may increase the risk for hypertension in young and middle-aged subjects. An appropriate recommendation of PA duration should be encouraged in this cohort.