Hypertension is an important public-health challenge worldwide. Prevention, detection, treatment, and control of this condition should receive high priority.

SummaryBackgroundUnderweight, overweight, and obesity in childhood and adolescence are associated with adverse health consequences throughout the life-course. Our aim was to estimate worldwide trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) and a comprehensive set of BMI categories that cover underweight to obesity in children and adolescents, and to compare trends with those of adults.MethodsWe pooled 2416 population-based studies with measurements of height and weight on 128·9 million participants aged 5 years and older, including 31·5 million aged 5–19 years. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1975 to 2016 in 200 countries for mean BMI and for prevalence of BMI in the following categories for children and adolescents aged 5–19 years: more than 2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference for children and adolescents (referred to as moderate and severe underweight hereafter), 2 SD to more than 1 SD below the median (mild underweight), 1 SD below the median to 1 SD above the median (healthy weight), more than 1 SD to 2 SD above the median (overweight but not obese), and more than 2 SD above the median (obesity).FindingsRegional change in age-standardised mean BMI in girls from 1975 to 2016 ranged from virtually no change (−0·01 kg/m2 per decade; 95% credible interval −0·42 to 0·39, posterior probability [PP] of the observed decrease being a true decrease=0·5098) in eastern Europe to an increase of 1·00 kg/m2 per decade (0·69–1·35, PP>0·9999) in central Latin America and an increase of 0·95 kg/m2 per decade (0·64–1·25, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. The range for boys was from a non-significant increase of 0·09 kg/m2 per decade (−0·33 to 0·49, PP=0·6926) in eastern Europe to an increase of 0·77 kg/m2 per decade (0·50–1·06, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. Trends in mean BMI have recently flattened in northwestern Europe and the high-income English-speaking and Asia-Pacific regions for both sexes, southwestern Europe for boys, and central and Andean Latin America for girls. By contrast, the rise in BMI has accelerated in east and south Asia for both sexes, and southeast Asia for boys. Global age-standardised prevalence of obesity increased from 0·7% (0·4–1·2) in 1975 to 5·6% (4·8–6·5) in 2016 in girls, and from 0·9% (0·5–1·3) in 1975 to 7·8% (6·7–9·1) in 2016 in boys; the prevalence of moderate and severe underweight decreased from 9·2% (6·0–12·9) in 1975 to 8·4% (6·8–10·1) in 2016 in girls and from 14·8% (10·4–19·5) in 1975 to 12·4% (10·3–14·5) in 2016 in boys. Prevalence of moderate and severe underweight was highest in India, at 22·7% (16·7–29·6) among girls and 30·7% (23·5–38·0) among boys. Prevalence of obesity was more than 30% in girls in Nauru, the Cook Islands, and Palau; and boys in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Palau, Niue, and American Samoa in 2016. Prevalence of obesity was about 20% or more in several countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Middle East and north Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA. In 2016, 75 (44–117) million girls and 117 (70–178) million boys wor...

These results indicate that diabetes has become a major public health problem in China and that strategies aimed at the prevention and treatment of diabetes are needed.

IMPORTANCE Noncommunicable chronic diseases have become the leading causes of mortality and disease burden worldwide. OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence of diabetes and glycemic control in the Chinese adult population. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Using a complex, multistage, probability sampling design, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in a nationally representative sample of 98 658 Chinese adults in 2010. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Plasma glucose and hemoglobin A 1c levels were measured after at least a 10-hour overnight fast among all study participants, and a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test was conducted among participants without a self-reported history of diagnosed diabetes. Diabetes and prediabetes were defined according to the 2010 American Diabetes Association criteria; whereas, a hemoglobin A 1c level of <7.0% was considered adequate glycemic control. RESULTS The overall prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be 11.6% (95% CI, 11.3%-11.8%) in the Chinese adult population. The prevalence among men was 12.1% (95% CI, 11.7%-12.5%) and among women was 11.0% (95% CI, 10.7%-11.4%). The prevalence of previously diagnosed diabetes was estimated to be 3.5% (95% CI, 3.4%-3.6%) in the Chinese population: 3.6% (95% CI, 3.4%-3.8%) in men and 3.4% (95% CI, 3.2%-3.5%) in women. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes was 8.1% (95% CI, 7.9%-8.3%) in the Chinese population: 8.5% (95% CI, 8.2%-8.8%) in men and 7.7% (95% CI, 7.4%-8.0%) in women. In addition, the prevalence of prediabetes was estimated to be 50.1% (95% CI, 49.7%-50.6%) in Chinese adults: 52.1% (95% CI, 51.5%-52.7%) in men and 48.1% (95% CI, 47.6%-48.7%) in women. The prevalence of diabetes was higher in older age groups, in urban residents, and in persons living in economically developed regions. Among patients with diabetes, only 25.8% (95% CI, 24.9%-26.8%) received treatment for diabetes, and only 39.7% (95% CI, 37.6%-41.8%) of those treated had adequate glycemic control. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The estimated prevalence of diabetes among a representative sample of Chinese adults was 11.6% and the prevalence of prediabetes was 50.1%. Projections based on sample weighting suggest this may represent up to 113.9 million Chinese adults with diabetes and 493.4 million with prediabetes. These findings indicate the importance of diabetes as a public health problem in China.

Objective: Health planners and policy makers are increasingly asking for a feasible method to identify vulnerable persons with the greatest health needs. We conducted a systematic review of the association between a single item assessing general self‐rated health (GSRH) and mortality. Data Sources: Systematic MEDLINE and EMBASE database searches for studies published from January 1966 to September 2003. Review Methods: Two investigators independently searched English language prospective, community‐based cohort studies that reported (1) all‐cause mortality, (2) a question assessing GSRH; and (3) an adjusted relative risk or equivalent. The investigators searched the citations to determine inclusion eligibility and abstracted data by following a standarized protocol. Of the 163 relevant studies identified, 22 cohorts met the inclusion criteria. Using a random effects model, compared with persons reporting “excellent” health status, the relative risk (95% confidence interval) for all‐cause mortality was 1.23 [1.09, 1.39], 1.44 [1.21, 1.71], and 1.92 [1.64, 2.25] for those reporting “good,”“fair,” and “poor” health status, respectively. This relationship was robust in sensitivity analyses, limited to studies that adjusted for co‐morbid illness, functional status, cognitive status, and depression, and across subgroups defined by gender and country of origin. Conclusions: Persons with “poor” self‐rated health had a 2‐fold higher mortality risk compared with persons with “excellent” self‐rated health. Subjects' responses to a simple, single‐item GSRH question maintained a strong association with mortality even after adjustment for key covariates such as functional status, depression, and co‐morbidity.