Six‐Year Incidence of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in a Population‐Based Cohort of Chinese Adults Followed From 2009 to 2015

BACKGROUND: China faces a substantial burden from cardiometabolic diseases, but longitudinal studies on a wide range of cardiometabolic risk factors are limited. We examined the 6‐year incidence of 8 cardiometabolic risk factors in a diverse, population‐based cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the China Health and Nutrition Survey, anthropometry, blood pressure, and fasting blood samples were collected from 9621 adults (47.6% men) aged 18 to 99 years in 2009 who were followed into 2015. Using inverse probability weights to account for loss to follow‐up, we estimated the 6‐year incidence of 8 cardiometabolic risk factors and compared the incidence of each risk factor across age groups using inverse probability–weighted sex‐stratified logistic regression models. Incidence was noted for the following cardiometabolic risk factors during 2009–2015: hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg; men: 29.2%; women: 24.9%), high waist circumference/height ratio (≥0.5; men: 42.4%; women: 43.8%), and high total to HDL (high‐density lipoprotein) cholesterol ratio (≥5; men: 17.0%; women: 14.5%). Older men and women (aged ≥65 years) had the highest incidence of hypertension. Incidence of high waist circumference/height ratio and high LDL (low‐density lipoprotein) cholesterol (≥130 mg/dL) was highest among older (aged ≥65 years) women, whereas incidence of overweight (body mass index ≥25) and high triglycerides (≥150 mg/dL) was highest among younger (aged 18–35 and 35–50 years) men. CONCLUSIONS: We found increases in cardiometabolic risk among Chinese adults during this recent, short, 6‐year period that are higher than previous studies in China. The higher incidence of overweight and elevated dyslipidemia markers in younger versus older men portends an increasing burden of cardiometabolic diseases in China as the younger population ages.