Unhealthy lifestyle practices in the Mexican population: National surveys of coverage of the integrated health programs (ENCOPREVENIMSS) of the Mexican Institute of the Social Security (IMSS) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2010

Objective. To evaluate changes of unhealthy lifestyle focusing on physical inactivity and poor nutrition in the Mexican insured population by the Mexican Institute of Social Security.;Results. The coverage of preventive actions increased in all age groups. Overall, the recommended physical activity levels were achieved by only 17.7%, the activity was insufficient for 65.5% and inactivity for 16.8% for both men and women. Smoking frequency consumption was 31.9% in men, whereas obesity in women showed 23.6%. Hypertension and diabetes were highly prevalent.;Conclusions. Mexico has a population with a high prevalence of physical inactivity, obesity, poor nutrition, diabetes and hypertension. The lifestyle factors assessment leads to approaches in order to improve the quality of prevention and care programs for the whole country. Public health significance. The surveys show the significant role of contemporary epidemiology for health planning services. Studies were useful to identity health population problems. Furthermore, national and local interventions were applied to increase low coverage health programs and to prevent some high prevalence diseases.;Material and methods. This thesis presents three published papers which show the beginning, development and results of the Integrated Health Programs strategy in Mexico (PREVENIMSS), 2003-2010. The first paper assesses the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors within Mexican population. The second paper describes the strategy "PREVENIMSS" and shows how unhealthy life styles and preventive actions coverage were monitored. The third one examines the prevalence of physical inactivity in Mexican population.