Overweight, obesity, central adiposity and associated chronic diseases in cuban adults.

Introduction Prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing worldwide in parallel with the growing burden of noncommunicable chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization, in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion individuals aged ≥15 years were overweight and at least 400 million were obese; by 2015 these figures will almost double.

Smoking-attributable mortality in cuba.

Introduction Smoking is the main preventable cause of death worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that smoking causes 5 million deaths annually, a figure that could double shortly if the present trend in tobacco product consumption continues. Objectives Estimate smoking-attributable mortality in the Cuban population and provide information needed to carry out effective public health actions.

[Factors associated with stages of behavior change in Cuban smokers].

Objective: To describe the distribution of Cuban smokers in the first two stages of the process of behavior change (precontemplation (that is, no desire to quit smoking) and contemplation (thinking about quitting)), the characteristics of these smokers, and the relationship between these characteristics and some variables of interest.

Methods: The First National Survey of Risk Factors and Chronic Non-communicable Disease Prevention Activities was carried out in Cuba in 1996. As a part of that Survey, a probability sample was selected using three-stage clustering, with stratification of the primary units, which were the census districts in the 14 provinces and 169 municipalities that make up the country.