title: Prevalence of overweight and cardiovascular risk factors in rural and urban children from Central Asia: the Kazakhstan health and nutrition examination survey.
abstract: Kazakhstan is undergoing a rapid modernization process, which carries the risk of an epidemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease. We enrolled a sample of about 50 children for every combination of gender, environment (urban vs. rural), ethnic group (Kazakh vs. Russian), and age group from 7 to 18 years, for a total of 4,808 children. Anthropometry and blood pressure were measured on all children while fasting blood cholesterol and glucose were measured only in 2,616 children aged > or =12 years. The prevalence of overweight and risk of overweight ranged from 2.8 (rural male Kazakhs) to 9.1% (urban male Russians). The prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension ranged from 8.3 (urban females) to 15.9% (rural females); that of hypercholesterolemia from 11.5 (male rural Russians) to 26.5% (female rural Kazakhs); and the overall prevalence of impaired fasting glucose was 0.1%. We conclude that overweight and cardiovascular risk factors are less prevalent in children living in Kazakhstan than in those living in Western countries. However, these figures are not negligible and suggest that preventive measures are needed to contain the epidemic of overweight and cardiovascular disease that will most likely accompany the modernization of Kazakhstan in the next years.
authors: Department of Experimental Evolutionary Biology, Anthropology Unit, Bologna University, Bologna, Italy. fiorenzo.facchini@unibo.it
authors: Fiorenzo
authors: F
authors: Facchini
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Fiori
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Bedogni
authors: Livia
authors: L
authors: Galletti
authors: Maria Giovanna
authors: MG
authors: Belcastro
authors: Orazak
authors: O
authors: Ismagulov
authors: Ainagul
authors: A
authors: Ismagulova
authors: Turegeldy
authors: T
authors: Sharmanov
authors: Igor
authors: I
authors: Tsoy
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Rizzoli
authors: Matteo
authors: M
authors: Goldoni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007623:Kazakhstan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*