[Clinical and epidemiological research among elderly in nursing homes].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Fernando Rodríguez Artalejo.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from the province of Cuenca in 2004, and to examine changes in the main cardiovascular risk factors in school children from the city of Cuenca from 1992 through 2004. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Cross sectional survey of 1166 schoolchildren 9-10 years old from 22 public schools of the province of Cuenca. We also analyzed data from 3 earlier, methodologically similar, cross-sectional surveys of school children from the city of Cuenca carried out in 1992, 1996 and 1998. RESULTS: In 2004, among children aged 9-10 years from the province of Cuenca, 22.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.53-24.37) were overweight and 8.8% (95% CI, 7.16-10.50) were obese. From 1992 through 2004, among children aged 9-10 years from the city of Cuenca, we registered a 12.2% absolute increase in the prevalence of overweight or obesity among males, which did no reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). Among women, changes in body mass index were of lower magnitude and with no statistical significance. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased (p < 0.05) in both sexes, with a greater decline in females. Among the latter, SBP decreased -9.22 mmHg (95% CI, -7.0 to -11.5) and DBP -5.9 mmHg (95% CI, -4.23 to -7.50). Non high density lipoproteins-cholesterol decreased among males (-18.1 mg/dl; 95% CI, -26.0 to -10.1 mg/dl) and among females (-23.7 mg/dl; 95% CI, -30.8 to -16.6 mg/dl). High density lipoproteins-cholesterol increased 6.3 mg/dl (95% CI, 2.6-10.0 mg/dl) in males and 5.1 mg/dl (95% CI, 1.9-8.2 mg/dl) in females. Triglycerides did not show substantial changes over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of overweight or obesity in schoolchildren of Cuenca is among the highest in Europe. From 1992 through 2004 in the city of Cuenca, frequency of overweight or obesity might have increased among males, while blood pressure and the lipid profile improved in both sexes.
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The obesity epidemic is a global phenomenon that does not respect geographic or socio-demographic boundaries. Thus, research on factors related to the obesity epidemic has focused on social and economic characteristics of modern societies. This article discusses obesity in Spain and trends in several associated factors. Together with the increase in the prevalence of obesity, important changes in the population's dietary pattern have been observed, although total energy and fat intake appear to be stable. According to several indirect indicators, sedentary behavior predominates, although the percentage of the population reporting some leisure exercise is increasing. An increase in the amount of leisure time in modern societies is suggested as an explanation for this paradox. Factors related to energy expenditure could be as important as dietary factors in the genesis of the obesity epidemic.
BACKGROUND: The goals of this study were to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren of Cuenca a Spanish city, and to track down both conditions over 6 years. METHOD: The follow-up study of cardiovascular risk factors began in 1992 with a cross-sectional survey of 307 children aged 9-12 years old who were recruited in three public schools. On a second survey in 1998, we examined schoolchildren of the 1992 cohort as well as 9-13 years-old schoolchildren from the same public schools. Besides socio-demographics variables, we determined weight, height and body mass index (BMI). Individuals were classified as having normal weight, overweight and obesity, according to criteria of the International Obesity Task Force. RESULTS: Prevalence of overweight was 26.6%, and that of obesity was 3.9%. Overweight and obesity were more frequent in women that in men (not statistically significant differences).Spearman's correlation coefficient in the cohort followed-up between 1992 and 1998 regarding BMI was 0.72. Intra-class correlation coefficient between BMI percentile in 1992 and 1998 was 0.78. Relative risk of overweight and obesity in 1998 for individuals who had overweight or obesity in 1992 was 2.9 (95% CI, 2.21-4.04). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren of Cuenca is among the highest reported so far. BMI increased from the pre-pubertal through the post-pubertal period.
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BACKGROUND: Environmental factors in early stages of life may contribute to adult cardiovascular disease. We have examined certain anthropometric and biochemical variables in children aged 6-7 years from four Spanish provinces with high differences in mortality due to ischemic heart disease (IHD). PATIENTS AND METHOD: We performed a cross-sectional survey of 1,255 children (50.3% males) attending schools in Cádiz and Murcia provinces with a relatively high IHD mortality and Madrid and Orense provinces with a relatively low IHD mortality. Weight, body mass index (BMI) and prevalence of obesity were analyzed, and plasma glucose and lipid levels were measured by standardized methods. RESULTS: Compared with children in the two low-IHD-mortality provinces, those in the two high-IHD-mortality provinces had greater weight (p < 0.05) and BMI (p < 0.01) and higher prevalence of obesity (p < 0.01). Moreover, they had significantly higher (p < 0.01) plasma glucose, triglyceride and apo A-I levels. CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, along with higher plasma glucose and triglyceride levels, in provinces with high coronary artery disease mortality indicates that children from these provinces are metabolically different from those in provinces with low coronary artery disease mortality. These alterations may thus contribute to the different IHD mortality in adulthood.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of the changes in the prevalence of overweight and obesity with the changes in some of their risk factors in Spain from 1987 to 1997. METHODS: Data were obtained from three interview-based health surveys, covering representative samples of the noninstitutionalized Spanish population aged 16 years and over and undertaken in 1987 (n = 17,434), 1995 (n = 4,736), and 1997 (n = 4,678). To compensate for the different sample sizes, the 1995 and 1997 surveys were combined. Risk factors for obesity and overweight considered in this study were age, educational level, physical activity at work, physical activity during leisure time, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and civil status. Data analysis was performed with logistic regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (body mass index >or= 25 kg/m(2)) rose from 35.6% in 1987 to 40.9% in 1995/1997 among women and from 47.1 to 56.2% among men. In the period 1987-1995/1997, the proportion of persons with secondary or university education increased by 11.3% in women and 10.8% in men. Similarly, the prevalence of intense or regular leisure-time physical activity increased by 5.7 and 6.2% in women and men, respectively. The remaining risk factors for overweight and obesity registered no substantial change in prevalence over the study period. The prevalence of overweight and obesity expected in 1995/1997, had educational level and leisure-time physical activity been the same as in 1987, is higher than the observed figures; for educational level, expected figures are 7.3 and 1.4% higher than those observed among women and men, respectively, while for leisure-time physical activity corresponding values are 2.8 and 1.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Spain from 1987 to 1997 may have been attenuated by an increase in leisure-time physical activity and by an improvement in educational level, particularly among women. The contribution to overweight and obesity trends attributable to physical activity at work or to tobacco and alcohol consumption appears to be small or null.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association of work-related physical activity (WRPA) and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with body mass index (BMI) and obesity in the Spanish adult population aged 20 to 60 years. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The data were taken from the 1993 Spanish National Health Survey. We analyzed a sample of 12,044 men and women representative of the Spanish population aged 20 to 60 years. BMI and frequency of obesity (BMI > or = 30 kg/m(2)) were obtained from self-reported weight and height. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression models were constructed, adjusting for the main confounding factors. WRPA and LTPA were measured by two questions to classify subjects into four categories of physical activity. RESULTS: Neither mean BMI nor percentage of obesity varied significantly (p > 0.05) by WRPA. Mean BMI was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in those who were inactive in their leisure time (25.90 kg/m(2) in men and 24.43 kg/m(2) in women) than in those who reported vigorous activity (24.42 kg/m(2) and 22.97 kg/m(2) in men and women, respectively). The odds ration (OR) for obesity decreased with increasing level of LTPA in both men (OR of 0.64 for vigorous activity) and women (OR = 0.68), showing a statistically significant dose-response relation in both men (for linear trend, p = 0.0021) and women (p = 0.0245). DISCUSSION: These results raise questions about the association between WRPA and obesity and suggest the need to reexamine models of the obesity epidemic that point to automation of the workplace as one of the major explanatory factors.
To evaluate the influence of birth weight on apolipoprotein (apo) E genetic determinants of plasma lipids levels in prepubertal children we studied 933 healthy children (491 males and 442 females) 6 to 8 years old (mean age of 6.7 y), whose weight was recorded at birth. Plasma lipid and apolipoprotein concentrations and apo E genotypes were determined. We observed a greater effect of the apo E polymorphism on total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and especially apo B levels in children with birth weight in the lower tertile compared with those with birth weights in higher tertiles. Taking the epsilon3 allele homozygosity as reference, in boys with birth weights in the low tertile the overall lowering effect of the epsilon2 allele on TC, LDL-C and apo B was greater (10.5% (p < 0.01), 20.2% (p < 0.01) and 18.8% (p < 0.01), respectively) than in those in the highest tertile (5.6% on TC, 10.3% on LDL-C and 12.6% (p < 0.01) on apo B). A similar trend in this effect between tertiles of birth weight was also observed in girls. For both sexes, linear regression analysis demonstrates a positive and significant interaction between birth weight and epsilon2, which may explain the fact that the decrease in TC, LDL-C and apo B associated with the epsilon2 allele is more marked the lower the birth weight. Taking into account the prevalence of apo E polymorphism, and that appears to be the main genetic factor affecting plasma lipids, the interaction of apo E genotype and birth weight could be an important determinant of TC, LDL-C and apo B levels, and, as a consequence, of atherosclerosis.