Age at Diagnosis and Duration of Hypertension on the Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet

The DASH diet is a widely recommended diet for individuals with hypertension. Adherence to the DASH diet has been shown to be effective for controlling hypertension, but it is unclear whether age at diagnosis and duration of hypertension have an impact on adherence to the overall diet and nutrient intake. This study examines how age at hypertension diagnosis and time since its diagnosis are associated with the DASH nutrient intake. The data come from the 2007–2008, 2009–2010 and 2011–2012 cross‐sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) method is used in order to estimate adherence to the DASH diet by age at hypertension diagnosis and time since diagnosis. The outcome is accordance with the DASH recommended intake of nine nutrients (0 to 9 point‐scale DASH score). Age at diagnosis of hypertension is significantly associated with the DASH nutrients. Older age at diagnosis is associated with significant decreases in intake of sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, total fat, protein, calcium and magnesium and increased intake of fiber. Similarly, duration of hypertension is positively associated with intake of sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, total fat, protein, calcium and magnesium. As a result, individuals with shorter duration are likely to have lower DASH score, and they less satisfy the DASH target score of 4.5 points. Despite the study findings that individuals with hypertension improve their diet with increased duration of disease, their diet is not still accordant to the DASH diet based on age at diagnosis and its duration. In order to achieve healthy diet and to deliver more tailored educational messages, it is important to first understand what barriers individuals with hypertension have in order to engage in healthy behaviors.