Food habits of hypertensive clients attending NCD clinic at a selected hospital, Villupuram district, Tamilnadu

Hypertension is a modern day's epidemic. Non pharmacological approach such as dietary modification plays an important role in controlling blood pressure. Modifying one's diet can be a difficult task. This study aimed to assess the food habits of 83 hypertensive clients attending Non Communicable Disease (NCD) Clinic at a selected hospital, Villupuram District and were selected using purposive sampling technique. The results revealed that majority (31.3%) of the hypertensive clients have excellent food habits (> 80%). Though majority had excellent food habits, many of their food habits were poor. Hence, there is a great need to develop a regular individualized health education programme which in turn may help in providing individualized lifestyle modification.