| Sumario: | Background: Determination of the prevalence of primary and secondary risk factors of non-communicable diseases among Mongolian adults aged 55-64 years is essential for the mid-term evaluation of the implementation status of the National program on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in October-December 2009 and included 524 (223 males and 301 females) Mongolian adults aged 55-64 years randomly selected from all provinces of the country and the capital city Ulaanbaatar. The socio-demographic status, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, history of hypertension, and diabetes of participants were assessed via questionnaire, body weight, height and blood pressure were measured, and the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were determined using photometric systems. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between men and women in regard to smoking (52.4% vs. 5.4%) and alcohol consumption (10.1 standard drinks vs. 4.2 standard drinks). The average daily intakes of fruit and vegetable of survey participants aged 55-64 years were very low (0.2 servings and 1.4 servings, respectively). In contrast, the daily salt intake was higher than the national mean intake (9.2 vs. 7.3 g) with no sex-related difference. Alarming was the fact that the prevalence of overweight and obese individuals was significantly higher than that at the national level (33.7% vs. 27.3% and 29.4% vs. 12.5%, respectively). The percentage of individuals with hypertension among the studied participants was 2.4 times higher than that in the general population (66.0% vs. 27.4%). The mean prevalence of the raised glucose level in the study group was 6.4%. The status of the lipid profile was poor: 13.4% of the surveyed had the raised total cholesterol level, 13.2% had the elevated level of fasting serum triglycerides, 25.0% had the increased level of LDL-C, and 37.9% of women and 7.9% of men had the decreased level of serum HDL-C. Conclusion: More than a half (53.8%) of the Mongolian adults aged 55-64 years were at risk of three or more coexisting NCD risk factors. The results highlight the urgent need for implementation of community-targeted multi-sectoral activities on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases with emphasis on the target group above the age of 55.
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