[Prevalence of a set of risk factors for chronic diseases in the city of São Paulo, Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of a set of risk factors for non-transmissible chronic diseases and compare it to that found 15-16 years ago in a similar survey.


METHODS
A cross-sectional household survey was carried out comprising a random sample of people aged 15-59 years in the city of São Paulo between 2001 and 2002. The total of 2,103 people answered a questionnaire and had their blood pressure, weight, height, waist and hip circumferences measured. For a third of these participants, their total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels were determined.


RESULTS
The total age-adjusted prevalences in the study age group were as follows: smoking, 22.6%; uncontrolled blood pressure, 24.3%; obesity, 13.7%; increased waist circumference, 19.7%; total cholesterol >or =240 mg/dL, 8.1%; HDL-cholesterol <40 mg/dL, 27.1%; triglycerides > or =200 mg/dL, 14.4%; and blood glucose > or =110 mg/dL, 6.8%. Smoking, uncontrolled blood pressure, high total cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol and high triglycerides were significantly more prevalent in men than women.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalences of a set of risk factors for chronic diseases showed men to have a poorer condition than women. In comparison to the previous survey, the prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure remained unchanged but the prevalence of smoking has significantly lowered.
Marcopito
Luiz Francisco
LF
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. marcopito@medprev.epm.br
Rodrigues
Sérgio São Fins
SS
Pacheco
Maria Aparecida
MA
Shirassu
Mírian Matsura
MM
Goldfeder
Artur Jaques
AJ
Moraes
Marco Antonio de
MA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002947:Cities / Q000453:epidemiology; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution