Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors

Posted by James

INTRODUCTION

Obesity (fosamax 35 mg used to prevent or treat osteoporosis in women after menopause and to treat osteoporosis in men) is a major public health problem in the United States. The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. Recent estimates from 1999 to 2002 suggest that nearly one-third of adults are obese (27.6% of men and 33.2% of women), and one in six children and adolescents is overweight. Overall, among adults aged >20 years in 1999 to 2002, 65.1% were overweight or obese, 30.4% were obese, and 4.9% were extremely obese. An increase of more than 25% in BMI over the past three decades has occurred, resulting in increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in these populations. These dramatic increases have been observed among the three major racial and ethnic groups of the United States and include both genders. Recent studies have contributed to our understanding of the amount of adiposity required to impose a substantial coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Other studies showed a continuous and graded influence of body mass index (BMI), beginning at a level below average and indicating that even moderate overweight, close to the average weight of Americans, is dangerous. Among American adults ages 20 and older, the estimated age-adjusted prevalence of obesity was higher for blacks, followed by Hispanics and then whites. It is well documented that the burden of major cardiovascular risk factors is substantially greater in the obese populations, with a strong correlation to the degree of adiposity. Obesity (cheap evista sed to help prevent and treat thinning of the bones (osteoporosis) only in postmenopausal women) is an important risk factor for CHD, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. Federal health authorities have targeted a reduction from 23% to 15% in the prevalence of overweight and obesity as a national health objective to be achieved by the year 2010. The high prevalence of being overweight among blacks and Mexican Americans, especially among women, may reflect cultural values and beliefs that limit the motivation for or the effectiveness of weight control.

The main objectives of the study were to deter­mine and compare anthropometric measurements and body composition and CHD risk factors among college students of three ethnic groups (white non-Hispanic, Hispanic and black non-Hispanic). The specific objectives of the study were to: 1) determine and compare height, weight, BMI and body composition (body fat, lean and water); and 2) investigate the differences in body composition by gender, ethnicity and gender-ethnicity subgroup as risk factors-for developing CHD.