Knowledge on heart smart diet among hypertensive clients in selected urban areas of Mangalore city

Cardiac disease alone causes 17 million deaths per year globally. Sixty percent of world’s cardiac disease cases are from India. Hypertension is one among the risk factor for cardiac disease, which cannot be cured, but can be controlled through diet and healthy life style. Many of the clients with hypertension are not following healthy diet, which will lead them to the risk of getting serious health problems. The present study aimed to measure the knowledge of clients with Hypertension on Heart Smart Diet by using Structured Knowledge Questionnaire(r= 0.87). Quantitative survey approach was adopted to accomplish the objectives. By using non-probability purposive sampling 500 samples were selected for the study. The study was conducted in various urban areas under Mangalore City Corporation. The knowledge was measured by using a structured knowledge questionnaire. The overall mean knowledge score was 20.5±1.43, with a mean percent of 60.3% revealing that the overall knowledge of the clients regarding healthy diet to prevent heart disease is moderate. So the study concluded that there is a need of interventional programmes in order to improve the knowledge of clients with hypertension regarding Heart Smart Diet.