Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence in three Chinese communities in 1989

The cardiovascular risk prevalence of 935 adult Chinese living in Chauzhou, Meizhou, and Xinhui cities of Guangdong Province, China, is reported. The three communities are geographically separated, and represent the three major dialect group in Guangdong Province (Teochew, Hakka and Cantonese respectively) which are also the major donor populations of overseas Chinese to Australia and South East Asia. Taking into account historical data, the conventional cardiovascular risk factor prevalence of these combined communities in China as a whole is on the increase and approaches or even exceeds that in Western Society. However, the three communities are not very alike in their prevalences of individual conventional cardiovascular risk factors, notably for hyperlipidaemia (most prevalent in Chauzhou), hypertension (most prevalent in Chauzhou men at 12.4% and least in Meizhou women 5.0%) and cigarette smoking (most prevalent in Xinhui men at 72.7% and least in Xinhui women, 0%). They are similar in stature, body weight, BMI, and waist-to-hip ratio, with very low prevalences of overweight/obesity, or abdominal obesity. An understanding of the contributors to sub-ethnic difference in cardiovascular risk should emerge with further study of these Chinese populations.