[Risk factors of cardiovascular disease among young adults].
BACKGROUND
A precise knowledge of the prevalence and importance of cardiovascular risk factors will facilitate the development of preventive strategies.


OBJECTIVE
To study cardiovascular risk factors among healthy young adults.


METHODS
Eight hundred and fifty subjects aged 22 to 28 years, living in two cities in Valparaiso province, were studied. Weight, height and blood pressure were recorded. A fasting blood sample was obtained from 806 individuals (54% female), to measure plasma lipids, glucose and insulin levels, to estimate their homeostasis model assessment scores (HOMA) and to evaluate the occurrence of metabolic syndrome.


RESULTS
Five percent of the studied population had high blood pressure, 14% had obesity, 57% smoked, 25% had high total cholesterol levels, 10.5% had high levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, 46% had low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, 16% had high triglyceride levels, 36% had insulin resistance, 7% had a metabolic syndrome, 14% were heavy drinkers and 38% were sedentary. Women had a higher prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. In only 24% of the studied subjects, no risk factor was identified.


CONCLUSIONS
A high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was found in this population of young adults.
Bustos
Patricia
P
Departamento de Nutrición, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Independencia 1027, Santiago, Chile. pbustos@machi.med.uchile.cl
Amigo
Hugo
H
Arteaga
Antonio
A
Acosta
Ana María
AM
Rona
Roberto J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology