title: Trends in risk factors for coronary heart disease in the Netherlands.
abstract: Favourable trends in risk factor levels in the general population may partly explain the decline in coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to present long-term national trends in established risk factors for CHD.
  
  
  
  Data were obtained from five data sources including several large scale population based surveys, cohort studies and general practitioner registers between 1988 and 2012. We applied linear regression models to age-standardized time trends to test for statistical significant trends. Analyses were stratified by sex and age (younger <65 and older ≥65 years adults).
  
  
  
  The results demonstrated favourable trends in smoking (except in older women) and physical activity (except in older men). Unfavourable trends were found for body mass index (BMI) and diabetes mellitus prevalence. Although systolic blood pressure (SBP) and total cholesterol trends were favourable for older persons, SBP and total cholesterol remained stable in younger persons.
  
  
  
  Four out of six risk factors for CHD showed a favourable or stable trend. The rise in diabetes mellitus and BMI is worrying with respect to CHD morbidity and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht (STR 6.131), P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. C.Koopman-5@umcutrecht.nl.|Dutch Heart Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands. C.Koopman-5@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koopman
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht (STR 6.131), P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vaartjes
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blokstra
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht (STR 6.131), P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W M M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Verschuren
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, EMGO+ Institute, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Dietetics and Nutrition Sciences, Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, EMGO+ Institute, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D J H
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Deeg
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht (STR 6.131), P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bots
authors.affiliation: Dutch Heart Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van Dis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Coronary heart disease; Risk factors; Trends; the Netherlands