Obesity, Diabetes, and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Native Populations of South America.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries. In South America, the native population comprises a great number of different ethnic groups. The cardiovascular risk factors observed in these groups have proved similar to and even higher than those found in general non-native populations. Relatively recent epidemiologic information reveals that many native communities have healthy habits with low prevalence of risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, while their prevalence is higher in those who have kept close contact with non-native populations and have westernized their habits. The differences in the presence of risk factors in these populations have been explained as the result of several interacting factors including genetic to environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural causes.