Metabolic Abnormalities Are Common among South American Hispanics Subjects with Normal Weight or Excess Body Weight: The CRONICAS Cohort Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 11; p. e0138968
• Main Authors: Benziger, Catherine P., Bernabé-Ortiz, Antonio, Gilman, Robert H., Checkley, William, Smeeth, Liam, Málaga, Germán, Miranda, J. Jaime
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.11.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Adult; Age; Aged; Baseline studies; Behavior; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body Size; Body Weight; C-reactive protein; Capital; Cardiovascular diseases; Cholesterol; Chronic illnesses; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Correlation analysis; Demography; Exercise; Female; Females; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Health risks; High altitude; High-altitude environments; Hispanic or Latino - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Insulin; Latin Americans; Longitudinal studies; Male; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - metabolism; Overweight; Peru - epidemiology; Physiological aspects; Prevalence; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Socio-economic aspects; Urban areas; Peru; United States > US; Baltimore Maryland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138968

We aimed to characterize metabolic status by body mass index (BMI) status. The CRONICAS longitudinal study was performed in an age-and-sex stratified random sample of participants aged 35 years or older in four Peruvian settings: Lima (Peru's capital, costal urban, highly urbanized), urban and rural Puno (both high-altitude), and Tumbes (costal semirural). Data from the baseline study, conducted in 2010, was used. Individuals were classified by BMI as normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥30 kg/m2), and as metabolically healthy (0-1 metabolic abnormality) or metabolically unhealthy (≥2 abnormalities). Abnormalities included individual components of the metabolic syndrome, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and insulin resistance. A total of 3088 (age 55.6±12.6 years, 51.3% females) had all measurements. Of these, 890 (28.8%), 1361 (44.1%) and 837 (27.1%) were normal weight, overweight and obese, respectively. Overall, 19.0% of normal weight in contrast to 54.9% of overweight and 77.7% of obese individuals had ≥3 risk factors (p<0.001). Among normal weight individuals, 43.1% were metabolically unhealthy, and age ≥65 years, female, and highest socioeconomic groups were more likely to have this pattern. In contrast, only 16.4% of overweight and 3.9% of obese individuals were metabolically healthy and, compared to Lima, the rural and urban sites in Puno were more likely to have a metabolically healthier profile. Most Peruvians with overweight and obesity have additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as well as a majority of those with a healthy weight. Prevention programs aimed at individuals with a normal BMI, and those who are overweight and obese, are urgently needed, such as screening for elevated fasting cholesterol and glucose.