Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. CVD are responsible of 17.7 million of deaths annually (45% of all deaths attributable to non-communicable diseases). Modifiable behavioral factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets and abuse of alcohol increase the risk of cardiovascular accident. The Heart Healthy Hoods project aims at measuring the specific aspects of the social and physical urban environment and their contribution to cardiovascular risk in Madrid, Spain. Specifically, this project aims to measure the food, physical activity, alcohol and tobacco environments in Madrid and to correlate the results with 2 different sets of health measures: (1) a cohort of more than 2000 residents 40-75 years old in Madrid and (2) electronic health records from the Primary Health Care System of Madrid (1.4 million inhabitants 40-75 years old).. Combining measures of ecometrics, geography, sociology and anthropology, the project looks for obtain a comprehensive description of the environments within which our population resides and works. These results will provide the scientific evidence needed to develop population-wide preventive interventions.