Primordial prevention of coronary heart disease in India: challenges and opportunities

Demographic shifts, lifestyle changes, and adverse effects of childhood nutrition portend an epidemic of coronary heart disease in the Indian subcontinent, which is currently experiencing health transition. Indian susceptibility includes atherogenic blood lipid levels and a metabolic complex of central obesity, glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinemia, and dyslipidemia due to insulin resistance. These characteristics are demonstrated dramatically in urban Indians and in Indian migrants to the west. Prime targets for effective strategies of primordial prevention include children and families in lower socio-economic classes now in transition. There is the greatest urgency in India for medical, political, and social action to prevent high risk in the first place, combating the tobacco trade, enlisting food and agriculture agencies, and promoting physical activity in the population. An empowered community with an enlightened policy can prevent the threatened epidemic.