RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To know the distribution of certain anthropometric parameters and cardiovascular risk factors: hypercholesterolemia, arterial hypertension, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking and diabetes mellitus in the population of the Canary Islands. DESIGN: Epidemiological, cross-sectional study, with description of prevalence. SUBJECTS: 1365 individuals from de Canary Islands: 637 males (45.9%) and 738 females (54.1%) aged 18 to 75 years. RESULTS: In the Canary Islands obesity was found in 18.6% of the population, 14.3% males and 22.3% females. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 30.4%, with an average serum cholesterol level of 213.1 mg/dl in males and 218.7 mg/dl in females. 63.1% of the population declared to have a sedentary lifestyle. In the population between 18 and 75 years old, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 30.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The Canary Islands show a high prevalence of obesity compared to other Spanish data and low if we compare it with Latin American countries. The average and prevalent serum cholesterol levels are higher than those described in the rest of Spain and Latin America. The prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle during spare time is similar to the average of our country and lower than the one described in Latin America.
Asunto(s)
Antropometría , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/epidemiología , Adolescente , Adulto , Distribución por Edad , Anciano , Estudios Transversales , Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiología , Encuestas sobre Dietas , Ejercicio Físico , Femenino , Humanos , Hiperlipidemias/epidemiología , Hipertensión/epidemiología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Obesidad/epidemiología , Prevalencia , Factores de Riesgo , Distribución por Sexo , Fumar/epidemiología , España/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To estimate knowledge and identify opinions and attitudes of the Canary Island population towards eating in relation to health. DESIGN: Epidemiological, cross-sectional descriptive or prevalence study. SUBJECTS: 1747 people from the Canary Islands: 821 males (47%) and 926 females (53%) aged 6 to 75 years. RESULTS: In the Canary Islands, 46.7% of the study population considered their knowledge of food and nutrition to be adequate, although an important percentage of the population didn't know the foods they had to restrict to prevent hypercholesterolemia. 43% of the population studied declared to be ready to modify their diet for health reasons and 78.7% of the people surveyed considered physicians as the most reliable source of food and nutrition information. CONCLUSIONS: An important proportion of the Canarian population considers that they should change their diet to improve their health. Likewise, a large number of this population admits to being ready to positively modify their eating habits, and health professionals are a key element in this process.