Association of altitude and urbanization with hypertension and obesity: analysis of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nepal's Himalayan range attracts mountaineers, climbers and tourists from all across the globe. Limited recent evidence suggests that exposure to hypoxia at a higher altitude may be a risk factor for hypertension and a protective factor for obesity. The existing urban-rural disparities in Nepal in health and economic resources may be anticipated in the burden of hypertension and obesity, two rapidly growing public health issues, but they remain largely unstudied. Therefore this study aims to assess the association of altitude and urbanization with hypertension and overweight/obesity in Nepal. METHODS: Data on 10 473 participants from a nationally representative survey, the 2016 N..