Social Inequalities in Cardiovascular Health Among Mothers and Their Offspring

markdownabstractCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide and has become a major public health concern.1 Globally, the number of people dying from CVD has been estimated to increase from more than 17 million in 2008, representing 30% of all global deaths, to more than 23 million in 2030.1 The largest contribution to the cardiovascular burden comes from coronary heart disease and stroke. The main cardiovascular risk factors have been identified nowadays, and they can be divided into behavioral risk factors (smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and excessive alcohol consumption), metabolic risk factors (high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight/ obesity and hypercholesterolemia) and other risk factors (ageing, gender and stress). Risk of CVD is not equally distributed among populations, but strongly associated with social disadvantage