title: Clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among obese urban schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia.
abstract: Against a background of increasing obesity among Tunisians, we conducted a transversal survey of 1569 children aged 13-19 years selected by multistage cluster sampling to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among obese schoolchildren in the urban area of Sousse. Obese children were found to have higher blood pressure, higher triglyceride levels and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than children of normal weight. In both genders, the mean height and weight across all age groups was significantly higher in urban than in rural children. Our study indicates that obesity and the adverse effects of being over the ideal body weight are no longer limited to industrialized countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghannem
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Harrabi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Abdelaziz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaha
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mrizak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*