[user104658]

The stats are meaningless if you include all ages... majority of people over about the age of 60 are going to have elevated blood pressure. It's just part of aging. It's not really concerning until it hits genuine hypertension levels. The idea that the average 65 year old can have the healthy bloodpressure of a younger adult is just silly, even very fit/active elderly people will have blood pressure issues.

So really they should only be looking at adults aged up to 60 (realistically more like 35-60, notably high BP in the 20's would be a sign of something very wrong).

All of that said, yes most adults in the western world do have raised BP. Not enough activity, high stress lifestyles, and far too much salt.