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Show MEDICAL JOURNAL Pediatrician Christine Williams Wil-liams of the American Health Foundation says a recent study suggests that adolescents adoles-cents identified as being "at risk" for high blood pressure as adults can benefit significantly signifi-cantly from health-education programs. Reporting to the American Public Health Association, Dr. Williams says the research compared two groups of junior high school students in New York City. One group attended special classes on nutrition, exercise and stress. But a control group, also identified as potentially hypertensive, did not receive any special instruction. Dr. Williams says those students attending the special health-education health-education progTam showed significantly lower blood pressure pres-sure levels. "This may indicate that even minor changes in nutritional patterns during childhood can be significant enough to affect blood pressure pres-sure in children who are genetically or environmentally predisposed to have relatively high levels for their age and sex," said Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams noted that the children from the health-education health-education group altered some unhealthy habits; "The most frequently reported behavior change was a decrease in salt intake followed by an increase in exercise." The change in behavior was evidence that the students had learned the desirability of a low salt intake diet and keeping physically physi-cally fit both of which may contribute to lowering blood pressure. |