The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among elderly Chinese Americans.

In 1981 to 1983, the nutrition and health status of 346 Chinese immigrants in Boston, Mass, aged 60 to 96 years was surveyed and analyzed for cardiovascular risk factors. These elderly Chinese were physically active and seldom obese and consumed a high-carbohydrate (57% of total energy intake), low-fat (24% of total energy intake), low-ascorbic acid (0.62 mmol/d) diet. Current cigarette smoking was common (39%) only in men, while alcoholism was rare in both sexes. Compared with elderly whites, they had lower mean blood pressure and blood levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoproteins A-I and B, and ascorbic acid. These characteristics resemble those of the urban population in mainland China, where hemorrhagic stroke is the major cause of cardiovascular mortality.