Abstract

Cardiovascular risk factors among 7-and 14-year old schoolchildren in Cartagena, Colombia, 2009. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2011, vol.13, n.2, pp.196-206. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objective Identifying family history, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycaemia, low physical activity and being overweight or suffering from obesity as cardiovascular risk factors in children aged 7 to 14 years in Cartagena, 2009. Materials and Methods A descriptive study of 173 children from Cartagena, Colombia, was designed. Biochemical serum parameters were determined by spectrophotometric methods. Habits were investigated through interviews and altered body weight was established using the body mass index (BMI). Results The sample consisted of 87 girls and 86 boys, and mean age was 9.9 years (9.6-10.3, 95 % CI). 75.1% (68.7-81.5, 95 % CI) had a family history of being overweight; 2.3 % (0.1-4.5, 95 % CI) were overweight and 1.7 % (0.0-3.6 95 %CI) were obese. More than half of the children had hightotal cholesterol levels (53.2 %; 45.8-60.695 %CI) and LDL (57.2 %; 49.8-64.6 95 % CI). Non-HDL cholesterol was found to be increased by 46.8 % (39.4-54.2 95 % CI). There was a significant difference between genders for triglyceridemia (females: 94.1 mg/dL; 87.0-101.2 mg/dL 95 % CI; males: 81.7 mg/dL; 75.0-88.5 mg/dL 95 % CI; p=0.005) and low physical activity (females: 83.8 %; 73.5-94.5 % 95 % CI; males: 44.2 %; 45.4-66.6 % 95 % CI; p=0,0001). Conclusions Cardiovascular risk factors in these schoolchildren, even in those who were not obese, justify the need for the early detection of these factors as well as their strict controlto reduce their impact on people's future quality of life.

Keywords : Risk factor; cardiovascular disease; health promotion; prevention and control.

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