Blood lipid associations in 18 year-old men

The association of cigarette smoking, physical activity at work, and social class with total cholesterol and with high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were examined in a random sample of 238 males, of 18 years of age, of Rosario, Argentina. The mean (mg/dl) total serum cholesterol of the whole sample was 174.7, the high density lipoprotein cholesterol 52.8, and the low density lipoprotein cholesterol 121.5. Black tobacco consumers, evenly distributed by social class, had higher levels of total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Total cholesterol was higher in the high social class, differently from what smokers' distribution by social class, would lead one to expect. While a highly negative association was found between social class and physical activity at work, there were no significant differences in lipoprotein levels between manual and non-manual workers. It is possible that the nutritional differences by social class still prevail over the smoking habit in their influence on the lipoprotein levels in these subjects.