Prevalence of overweight and obesity in a rural southern Italy population and relationships with total and cardiovascular mortality: the Ventimiglia di Sicilia project.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the prevalence of overweight and obesity and their relationships with the main cardiovascular risk factors in the population of Ventimiglia di Sicilia, a rural village in Southern Italy characterized by low cholesterol levels and by a low incidence of early coronary heart disease mortality. We related all deaths to body weight and fat distribution during an 8 y follow-up.


METHODS
Cross-sectional and prospective observational study.


METHODS
A total of 835 free-living individuals, 363 males and 472 females, of age between 20 and 69 y.


METHODS
In all participants body weight, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), cardiovascular risk factors and plasma lipids were measured. During the follow-up, total and cardiovascular deaths were registered.


RESULTS
We found a high overall prevalence of subjects with overweight or obesity (respectively 45.0% and 27.7%), with great differences among classes of age. As expected, body weight and fat distribution were associated with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and with a worsening of lipid profile. During the follow-up we registered 37 total and 11 cardiovascular deaths. All-cause and cardiovascular mortality risks were, respectively, 1.64 (95% CI 0.65-4.15) and 2.71 (95% CI 0.29-25.26) in subjects with a body mass index (BMI) of 27-29.99 kg/m2 and 2.45 (95% CI 1.03-5.87) and 5.36 (95% CI 1.41-62.01) in subjects with a BMI of > or =30 kg/m2 in comparison with participants with a BMI of <27 kg/m2, and 3.48 (95% CI 1.46-8.30) and 4.55 (95% CI 1.12-18.40) in subjects with a WHR higher than the median in comparison with individuals with a WHR lower than the median.


CONCLUSIONS
The Ventimiglia di Sicilia Study highlights the great importance of overweight and obesity as a public health issue in a rural population and indicates that it is necessary to consider the impact of body weight and fat distribution on both total and CHD mortality.
Barbagallo
C M
CM
Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Cavera
G
G
Sapienza
M
M
Noto
D
D
Cefalù
A B
AB
Pagano
M
M
Montalto
G
G
Notarbartolo
A
A
Averna
M R
MR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001824:Body Constitution; D001835:Body Weight; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population
D008055:Lipids