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Lifestyle risk factors for CVD rise along with urbanization
As urban living increases around the globe, so does the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases, according to research published in PLOS Medicine.
Study results of rural communities across 25 villages in sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated associations between urbanization and health consequences, highlighting the need to consider the broader effect of such advances.
“This is an important finding, considering that over 533 million people live in rural areas across sub-Saharan Africa and that any increase in cardiometabolic risk associated with the development process in these areas is likely to have an impact on population health and health care services,” the researchers wrote.
Johanna Riha, a PhD candidate in the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and colleagues examined cross-sectional associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors among 7,340 Ugandans aged at least 13 years, based on data collected in 2011.
The investigators used a multi-component scale to define urbanicity and Poisson regression models to examine associations by quartile of urbanicity. Although none of the villages had paved roads or running water, variations existed due to economic activity, civil infrastructure and availability of educational and health care services.
Increased lifestyle risk factors correlated with the rise in urbanicity, evidenced in physical inactivity (RR=1.19; 95% CI, 1.14-1.24), low fruit and vegetable consumption (RR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.1-1.23) and high BMI (RR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.24-1.77), after adjusting for clustering and potential confounders including socioeconomic status.
“A better understanding of these associations is crucial,” the researchers wrote, “because modification of lifestyle risk factors through changes in the physical environment, including local infrastructure, may provide a potential avenue for primary prevention of cardiometabolic diseases in rural populations.”
Disclosure: The study was supported in part by the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research.