Trends in obesity and diabetes prevalence in a Chilean urban population: 1993-2001

In recent years, the Chilean population has suffered significant lifestyle changes associated with the rapid socioeconomic development of the country. These changes can induce a significant increase in the prevalence of some chronic diseases, such as obesity, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. We aimed to assess diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia trends in a Chilean urban population followed between 1993 and 2001.

A total of 1584 adults, living in Santiago, the capital of Chile, were randomly enrolled in a cross-sectional epidemiologic study in 1993. The same population was re-evaluated in 2001, recruiting 964 individuals from the original sample. Prevalences of diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia were determined according to standard criteria. We tested the significance of the differences between the observed prevalence of diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia in the 964 subjects evaluated in 2001 compared with the expected prevalence according to population aging based in data from 1993.

In 1993, 3.8% of the sample population had diabetes mellitus, 21.8% had obesity, and 37.3 % exhibited hypercholesterolemia. In 2001, the observed prevalence of diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia was 10.1%, 32%, and 58%, respectively. The latter percentages were significantly higher than the expected prevalence according to the aging of the population (6.5% for diabetes mellitus, 27.7% for obesity, and 47.7 for hypercholesteromia).

Our findings indicate that Chilean population has suffered an accelerated increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia, due to the ongoing epidemiological transition that will lead to an enormous public health burden in the near future.