Ideal cardiovascular health prevalence in the Brazilian population - National Health Survey (2013).

Primordial prevention is defined as the initial prevention of risk factors, through the adoption of healthier behaviors. Within this concept, the American Heart Association (AHA) has defined seven metrics, based on evidence, to achieve ideal cardiovascular health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular health in the Brazilian population, according to sex, age, and region of residence, using data from the latest National Health Survey (2013). We assessed the risk factors, as recommended by the AHA, combined (number of factors) and individually: four behavioral (smoking, physical activity, body mass index and diet) and three biological factors (blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels). The Brazilian population has reached very low prevalence (1%), for the sum of 7 factors in ideal level. Individually, 3.2% of the population consumed ideal diet, followed by physical activity (23.6%) and body mass index (43.7%). The subjects aged between 18 and 35 years showed higher prevalence of metrics combined at the optimal levels (0.5%), which was also reached by the population of the Northern region. These results indicate that greater efforts are urgent by public policies at the level of primordial prevention in order to achieve appropriate targets of cardiovascular health in the Brazilian population.