The North Karelia Project: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Finland Through Population-Based Lifestyle Interventions

Abstract

The North Karelia Project was started in 1972 as a response to the high cardiovascular mortality among men in North Karelia, Finland’s easternmost province. Prevalent cardiovascular disease risk factors in the province included elevated serum cholesterol, hypertension, and smoking. Through a sociobehavioral framework utilizing community-based interventions and national-level policy changes and legislation, the project targeted lifestyle changes as a means to alleviate cardiovascular disease risk factors. Diet recommendations included minimizing the use of saturated fats and decreasing salt intake. Another target of the project was to reduce the prevalence of smoking. As a result of the lifestyle interventions that continued beyond the initial 5 years of the project and then expanded to all of Finland, there were significant reductions in serum cholesterol levels, hypertension, smoking prevalence, and cardiovascular disease mortality. The North Karelia Project demonstrates that successful population-based lifestyle interventions serve as a sustainable public health solution to the growing chronic disease burden.