Secular Trends of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Mediterranean Population

Abstract

Research Methods and Procedures: Subjects were Spanish men (n ϭ 2383) and women (n ϭ 2525) 25 to 74 years old, examined in 1994 to 1995 and 1999 to 2000 in two independent population-based cross-sectional surveys in the northeast of Spain. Lifestyle measures, CRFs, and anthropometric variables were analyzed. Results: Over the 5 years of the study, mean age-standardized BMI increased by 1.0 units in men and by 0.8 units in women. At the same time the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.4% to 21.9% in men and from 15.4% to 21.4% in women. An upward trend was observed for WC and abdominal obesity (WC Ͼ 102 cm in men and WC Ͼ 88 cm in women) only in men. The proportion of men and women with hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and low highdensity lipoprotein-cholesterol plasma concentration remained stable within BMI and WC categories. The proportion of hypertension and smoking in obese men significantly increased from 1995 to 2000. Discussion: The 5-year increase in BMI and WC is of considerable magnitude in the present population, although several CRFs remained stable within BMI and WC categories.

Are cardiorespiratory fitness and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity independently associated to overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity in elderly?

“…In addition, when analyzed the proportion of elderly with the combination of both normal categories, 63% of old men had no risk for obesity and abdominal obesity, while only 32% of the women were in this category. The proportions for obesity and abdominal obesity found in this study, and the higher quantity of women at risk compared to men, are similar to those presented for American (Freiberg et al, 2008), European (Garcia-Alvarez et al, 2007;Schroder et al, 2007), and Asian populations (Li et al, 2011).…”

Physical activity and prevalence of hypertension in a population-based sample of Brazilian adults and elderly

“…Despite the well-known effects of hypertension on health (Lewington et al, 2002), its prevalence has increased in several countries (Ostchega et al, 2007, Schroder et al, 2007. In Brazil, the prevalence of hypertension is estimated to be 9% in children and adolescents (Moura et al, 2004), 24% in adults (Marcopito et al, 2005) and 46% in elderly (Zaitune et al, 2006).…”

Olive Oil Consumption, BMI, and Risk of Obesity in Spanish Adults

“…The obesity epidemic greatly affects south European countries [11,12]. A positive energy balance is the driving force of this epidemic.…”

“…Olive oil consumption without energy compensation within the total diet may increase the risk of energy overconsumption and consequently lead to weight gain. It has been suggested that a diet rich in olive oil, even in the Mediterranean context, might be responsible for the increasing obesity prevalence rates in south European countries [11,12]. However, the relevant data is limited [8,13,14].…”