One out of 5 men and one out of 8 women aged 20-59
years have high blood pressure, while about one out of 10 men and women has
a high total cholesterol level. About half the men and one-third of the
women are overweight. Chronic disease risk factors are more prevalent among
men vs. women, among the elderly vs. the youth, and among the lower
educated vs. the higher educated. Prevalence of overweight for example,
was 3 times (men) to 5 times (women) higher in lower educated individuals
than in the higher educated. These represent a few of the results of the
MORGEN project, a large-scale monitoring project carried out between 1993
and 1997 among 23,000 men and women living in Amsterdam, Doetinchem and
Maastricht. Data were collected on (changes in) chronic disease risk
factors, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma, COPD and
musculoskeletal disorders. Respondents filled in questionnaires on
lifestyle habits (smoking, diet and physical activity) and health, and
underwent a physical examination in which height, weight, blood pressure and
lung function were measured. They supplied blood samples in which serum
total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and non-fasting glucose were determined.
A subsample of respondents aged 45 years and older underwent a series of
cognitive tests. This project has proven to be a valuable source of
information on chronic disease risk factors in (subgroups of) the general
Dutch population. It has contributed to the National Public Health Compass
and RIVM's Chronic Disease Model. Prevalence of and trends in the risk
factors and chronic diseases according to age, gender and educational level
are reported here.
