Research
Mixed
Systolic blood pressure (SBP) shows no or weak correlation with national income, urbanization, or food expenditure share, remaining high in some low-income countries and variable in high-income countries.
Do not assume low blood pressure risk in low-income settings. Population-level interventions for blood pressure (e.g., salt regulation) are needed globally, regardless of economic status.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Mean population blood pressure was not correlated or only weakly correlated with the economic factors considered, or with cholesterol and BMI.
Why this rating
Cross-country analysis with large sample sizes, though heterogeneity in measurement methods exists.
Source
Rethinking the “Diseases of Affluence” Paradigm: Global Patterns of Nutritional Risks in Relation to Economic Development
Majid Ezzati et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2005
DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020133
cross_sectionalCited 622×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Body mass index (BMI) increases rapidly with national income until a threshold of approximately $12,500-$17,000 (international dollars), after which it flattens and eventually declines, contradicting the linear 'diseases of affluence' paradigm.Good
- Total cholesterol levels increase with national income, peaking at higher income levels ($18,000) than BMI, and are positively correlated with urbanization.Good
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