Why was the cohort set up?
The Maule Cohort (MAUCO) is the first prospective population-based cohort of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer in central Chile. The rationale for this cohort is based on the social, environmental and health characteristics of an under-studied rural population at high risk for chronic diseases.1 Chile is regarded as a model for social and economic transition in Latin America. Nevertheless, Chile’s progress and economic growth hide persistent inequalities.2 Poverty rates have declined from 38.6% in 1990 to 20.7% in 2017, when a large proportion of the population was still living in poverty based on their education, health care, employment, social security and housing conditions.3,4 In Chile, as in other Latin American countries, obesity, CVD and cancer have reached epidemic levels, disproportionately affecting people with lower socioeconomic status and overshadowing the national progress.5,6 Chilean cross-sectional national health surveys held in 2003, 2009 and 2016 revealed high and increasing prevalences of diabetes (6.3%, 9.4%, 12.3%), metabolic syndrome (22.6%, 35.3%, 40.1%) and overweight/obesity (61.0%, 64.4%, 71.0%). …..