[Lipid profile among school children in Campinas, Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
To describe the lipid profile and the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia among schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 years in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil.


METHODS
Plasma cholesterol levels, fractions, ratios and triglycerides were determined according to age and gender in a total of 1,600 schoolchildren. Hypercholesterolemia was considered borderline for 170 mg/dl</= cholesterol <185 mg/dl, moderate for 185 mg/dl pound cholesterol <200 mg/dl and severe for cholesterol >/=200 mg/dl.


RESULTS
Schoolchildren presented a cholesterol mean of 160 mg/dl, HDL-cholesterol mean of 49 mg/dl, LDL-cholesterol mean of 96 mg/dl, VLDL-cholesterol mean of 16 mg/dl, triglycerides mean of 79 mg/dl, cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol mean of 3.5 and LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol mean of 2.1. In general, females had higher cholesterol and triglycerides values than males. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 35.0%: 15.6% was borderline high, 9.8% moderate and 9.5% severe. Females presented higher prevalence of hypercholesterolemia than males.


CONCLUSIONS
The results pointed to the emergence of hypercholesterolemia as a public health problem in Brazil.
Moura
E C
EC
Departamento de Nutrição, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brasil. lymoura@aleph.com.br
de Castro
C M
CM
Mellin
A S
AS
de Figueiredo
D B
DB
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides