Numerous studies show a high prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adults and older adults, although their frequency increases in young people. An exploratory, descriptive study was carried out on first-year medical students from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), to know the physical activity levels and the criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS). The study was accepted by an Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine. Statistical analysis was performed with Stata v6. 56.7% of the students are 17-19 years old, and 53.3% are female; 56.7% have a monthly per capita family income greater than 500 soles, and 76.7% come from urban Lima. 83.4% had limited physical activity, being the most frequent MS  components: elevated abdominal circumference (36.7%) and low levels of high-density cholesterol (23.3%). The only variable with statistical association wit...

In Peru, noncommunicable diseases represent a high rate of its burden of disease. According to the Demographic and Family Health Survey, from 2016 to 2021, the percentage of people aged 15 and older with a medical diagnosis of arterial hypertension has increased by 4.5 percentage points and on average 65.5% take medication for their disease. The percentage of people aged 15 and older with a medical diagnosis of diabetes increased by 2 percentage points and on average 71.2% take medication for their disease. The preventive care services reduction due to COVID-19 pandemic in Peru shows the need to establish strategies oriented to the use of information and communication technologies, reinforce health education programs, guarantee access to pharmaceuticals and medical devices, adequately remunerated human resources and strengthen NCD epidemiological surveillance programs that contribute to ...