OBJECTIVETo understand the distribution of chronic disease related behavior and lifestyle in adults from Beijing.

METHODS16,658 adult residents from Beijing city were randomly selected with stratified multi-stage cluster sampling method in 2005. Each participant was invited to receive a set of standardized questionnaire, physical examinations and laboratory tests.

RESULTSIn the adults living in Beijing, 33.2% were overweight and 16.4% were obesive. The current smoking rate was 26.2% and the regular smoking rate was 21.4%. 57.7% of the male and 4.6% of the female adults were current smokers. In male adults, 64.3% drank alcoholic beverage at least once per month while 16.1% drank almost everyday, 16.5% drank more alcohol than moderate, and 18.5% were binge drinkers. 46.0% of Beijing adults were in lack of active physical exercise. Unhealthy dietary habits such as:excess consumption of sodium or oil, lower intake of vegetable, milk and soybean productions, skipping breakfast, fond of salted vegetable and fried food intake, as well as eating snacks etc. were quite commonly seen in the adults from Beijing. In addition, most of the risk factors had a higher prevalence in the suburban areas and population at working-age.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence rate of chronic risk factors was still high in adults of Beijing. Effective interventions should be carried out to prevent further worsening of the situation, especially in the suburban areas and people at working-age.