Figure 7.

Proposed model of the relationship between caloric intake, salt consumption, hypertension and obesity based on the present survey and existing concepts. Key findings from this study are marked by a bold arrow and confirmatory findings by regular arrows. These are integrated into established connections (dashed arrows). Overall caloric intake promotes not only obesity, but also salt intake which is independently linked to hypertension and obesity. Obese hypertensive subjects consume, on the average, more salt than other phenotypes, when the presence/absence of obesity and hypertension are considered.