Obesity, diabetes, and coronary risk in women.

The latter half of the twentieth century has witnessed rapid advances in cardiovascular epidemiology and medicine. Concurrently, secular trends in lifestyle practices and general improvements in standards of living have resulted in several alarming trends for cardiovascular disease prevention and health promotion. The adoption of unhealthy dietary patterns, growing socio-economic and racial disparities in chronic disease prevalence, low levels of physical activity, and other as yet unidentified genetic and environmental determinants have led to burgeoning rates of both pediatric and adult obesity and diabetes mellitus. Women appear to be at particular risk as the gender advantage for coronary heart disease (CHD) is counterbalanced by an increased incidence of obesity and diabetes. In order to further examine these complex associations, we review the available epidemiological data regarding the impact of obesity and diabetes on cardiovascular health in women.