Objectives Neck circumference has emerged as a predictor of obesity and metabolic syndrome, but its clinical usefulness for different groups of population is not clearly defined. The aim is to evaluate the predictive capacity of neck circumference in order to detect cardiovascular risks (CVRs) on the Chilean population and to compare it with waist circumference performance. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting General Chilean population. Participants Data of 4607 adults aged 18 and over from the Chilean National Health Survey 2009–2010 were analysed. Primary and secondary outcome measures Anthropometrics measures included neck and waist circumference, height and weight. CVR was identified according to the Framingham tables adapted for the Chilean population. Receiver operating characteristics curves and logistic regression models were made to evaluate the performance of neck circumference to predict a moderate/high CVR, comparing it to waist circumference. Results Almost 10% of the sample had a moderate or high CVR. The probability of having a moderate/high cardiovascular risk increase with cervical obesity (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.68) and central obesity (OR 4.5, 95% CI 2.47 to 8.22). The area under the curves were high for cervical obesity (AUC 81.4%, 95% CI 78.8% to 84.0%) and central obesity (AUC 82.2%, 95% CI 79.7% to 84.7%) and not statistically different (p=0.152). Conclusions Neck obesity has a high capacity to predict moderate/high CVR in the Chilean population. Its good performance appears as an opportunity to use it in clinical practice when waist circumference measurement is difficult to measure and eventually replace the waist circumference measurement as the technique is easier.

Food systems are one of the main contributors to climate change. Sustainable diets are one strategy to mitigate climate change. Assessments and estimations at a national level are lacking, especially in the Global South, probably due to a lack of national surveys of food consumption and a limited interest in sustainable diets information. The objective of this study is to estimate and describe the carbon and water footprint of the Chilean population’s diet in an overall estimation desegregated by region, age, sex, socioeconomic level and their main characterizations. This study is based on a secondary data analysis from the National Survey of Food Consumption made in 2010. The carbon and water footprint of the food subgroups/person/day were estimated. The results are compared by sex, age group, socioeconomic level, and macro zone. A carbon footprint of 4.67 kg CO_2eq and a water footprint of 4177 L, both per person/day, were obtained. Animal-sourced foods, such as dairy and red meat, were responsible for 60.5% of the total carbon footprint and 52.6% of the water footprint. The highest values for both footprints were found in the following groups: men, adolescents, young adults, people with a higher socioeconomic level, and residents in the southern area of the country. The carbon footprint and water footprint values in Chile generated by food consumption would be above the world averages. Transforming the Chilean food system into a more sustainable one with changes in eating patterns is urgently required to attain this transformation.

BONE MINERAL DENSITY, LUNG FUNCTION, VITAMIN D AND BODY COMPOSITION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS: MULTICENTER STUDY.

Background: The leading cause of death in older people is cardiovascular diseases. Several studies have found that neck circumference (NC) is a simple anthropometric marker associated with adiposity. The aim of this study is to estimate and validate NC cut-off points as adiposity markers and analyze their association with cardiovascular and chronic metabolic diseases in older people. Methods: A cross-sectional study in 358 non-disabled, community-dwelling older people (71.7 ± 3.9 years) living in Santiago de Chile and participating in the HTSMayor study was conducted. Measurements of body composition and cardiovascular risks were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association of NC with cardiovascular and chronic metabolic diseases. NC cut-off points were obtained to predict obesity, abdominal obesity, and adiposity. Results: The best performance values of neck circumference relative to obesity and adiposity were obtained with respect to abdominal obesity (40.6 cm in men and 34.2 cm in women). Higher NC values were associated with a higher area under the curve (AUC) for men and women (men: AUC = 0.84; women: AUC = 0.86). NC was significantly associated with a higher risk for diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.95), hypertension (OR = 2.42), acute myocardial infarction (OR = 4.36), and comorbidities (OR = 2.01), and a lower risk for sarcopenia (OR = 0.35). Conclusions: This study shows that NC is a useful tool for detecting abdominal obesity, obesity, and adiposity in older people and that a higher NC increases the risk of chronic diseases.