title: The cardiovascular risk factor profile of Estonian school children.
abstract: This cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the occurrence of conventional cardiovascular risk factors in Estonian school children after the socioeconomic changes of the early 1990s. A total of 1018 9-, 12- and 15-y-old randomly selected children were studied for lipid and lipoprotein profiles, blood pressure, weight, height, regular smoking, physical activity and family history of premature cardiovascular disease. In 11-24% of the children, total cholesterol levels were at or above the risk cut-off of 5.2 mmol l(-1), 3-5% of the children were considered to be obese and 6-12% had blood pressure higher than the age- and gender-specific 95th percentile of height. Of the 15-y-old girls and boys, 1% and 10%, respectively, admitted being daily smokers. Five percent of girls and 20% of boys smoked at least once a week. Ten to 18% of children reported little physical activity. According to age groups, 17-25% of the children had a family history of premature cardiovascular disease. The occurrence of three or more risk factors simultaneously characterized only the older age group, in which 2.3% of girls and 3.5% of boys exhibited clustering of potential cardiovascular risk factors. Our findings showed a relatively low frequency of obesity and low mean blood lipid levels with a high proportion of smokers among children in late puberty, implying that preventive efforts should focus on pubertal children to prevent adverse health behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grünberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thetloff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000886:Anthropometry; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012574:Schools; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D008074:Lipoproteins