Cardiovascular risk factors among teachers at a Minas Gerais Public University

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are a significant public health problem and several risk factors increase the chances of their occurrence. This study aims to investigate the presence of cardiovascular risk factors among teachers at a public university in Minas Gerais. This was a cross-sectional study that used a questionnaire to assess health conditions, anthropometry, body composition, blood pressure and food consumption. Thirty female teachers by the age of 48.3 ± 8.0 were evaluated. 60% of them were overweight, 80% had excess body fat, and 63.4% had a high risk of developing cardiovascular problems and 63% showed a high conicity index. We observed that 30% presented dyslipidemia, 10% had hypertension and 40% were sedentary. Furthermore, 96.7% of the participants reported medium, high or very high stress levels at work, while 46.6% reported a similar stress level at home. Regarding food consumption, they had an average of 4.0 meals/day (95% CI: 3.5-3.8); 93.3% consumed greens daily, 86.7% fruits, 86.7% meats and 80% milk/ derivatives. Daily fruit consumption was associated with excellent blood pressure (p = 0.017). The family history (FH) of diseases was also an important guide for the teachers' current health state, since there is a link between FH of obesity and current excess weight (p = 0.053), and between FH of dyslipidemia and abnormal waist circumference (p = 0.049). The data displayed the teachers' good dietary habits, but highlighted cardiovascular risk factors like overweight/obesity, high stress levels and sedentary habits, thus indicating the importance of carrying out health promotion actions directed specifically to this group of professionals