Cardiovascular risk factors in British children from towns with widely differing adult cardiovascular mortality.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether cardiovascular risk factors differ in children from towns in England and Wales with widely differing adult cardiovascular death rates.


METHODS
School based survey conducted during 1994 in 10 towns, five with exceptionally high adult cardiovascular mortality (standardised mortality ratio 131-143) and five with exceptionally low adult cardiovascular mortality (64-75). Towns were surveyed in high-low pairs.


METHODS
3415 white children aged 8-11 years with physical measurements (response rate 75%), including 1287 with blood samples (response rate 64%), of whom 515 had blood samples taken 30 minutes after a glucose load.


RESULTS
Children in towns with high cardiovascular mortality were on average shorter than those in towns with low mortality (mean difference 1.2 cm; 95% confidence interval 0.3 to 2.1 cm; P = 0.02) and had a higher ponderal index (0.34 kg/m3; 0.16 to 0.52 kg/m3; P = 0.006). Mean systolic pressure was higher in high mortality towns, particularly after adjustment for height (2.0 mm Hg; 0.8 to 3.2 mm Hg; P = 0.009). Mean waist:hip ratio, total cholesterol concentration, and 30 minute post-load glucose measurements were similar in high and low mortality towns. The differences in height and blood pressure between high and low mortality towns were unaffected by standardisation for birth weight.


CONCLUSIONS
The differences in height, ponderal index, and blood pressure between towns with high and low cardiovascular mortality, if persistent, may have important future public health implications. Their independence of birth weight suggests that the childhood environment rather than the intrauterine environment is involved in their development.
Whincup
P H
PH
Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London.
Cook
D G
DG
Adshead
F
F
Taylor
S
S
Papacosta
O
O
Walker
M
M
Wilson
V
V
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001724:Birth Weight; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001827:Body Height; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology