Prevalencia de diabetes tipo 2 y obesidad en comunidades Pehuenches, Alto Biobio

Aim: To determine prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) and obesity (overweight) in the commune of Alto Biobio, where people are mostly pehuenches indigenous. Methodology: This study are part of the "Küme Mongüen Pehuenche" ("Good Pehuenche Health") project, designed to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and the associated risk BMI and fasting blood glucose according to MINSAL. Results: Sample of 400 individuals, 213 women and 322 men (58 half-blood). General prevalence of obesity was 30.5% (42.5% overweight), mostly in women and 45 to 64 years old people. Prevalence of DM2 in pehuenches was 0.76% compared to 6.41% for non-pehuenches, with no differences by sex or nutritional status. Conclusions: In agreement with the literature, pehuenches show a low prevalence of DM2 despite high rates of obesity, situation that could change due to westernization of life-style, as it happened in mapuche population.