Association between Cardiovascular Disease, Cerebrovascular Disease and Overweight and Obesity among Adults in Puerto Rico

Background: According to the World Health Organization (2011), a high body mass index is an important risk factor for no communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, mainly heart disease and stroke. Methods: Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2009 and 2010 were used for this study (n = 7,522). In order to estimate the prevalence ratio of overweight and obesity adjusted for multiple variables, Cox regression was used. Results: Overall, 63.2% of participants were overweight or obese. Individuals with hypertension had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than those without hypertension (p <0.01). Those with a diagnosis of stroke had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity compared with those who had no such diagnosis (p <0.01). In patients with angina, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher compared with those without (p <0.01). With regards to the variable history of stroke, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in those who had suffered this condition, compared with those without this history (p = 0.88). Conclusion: Our study reveals that there is a relationship between overweight and obesity and diseases such as hypertension, heart attack and angina. However, we found no statistically significant association between overweight and obesity and cerebrovascular disease.