[Obesity in schoolchildren from Merida, Venezuela: association with cardiovascular risk factors].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of obesity and associated cardiovascular risk factors in schoolchildren in our city, given the influence of these factors on the development of atherosclerosis.


METHODS
We studied a representative sample of second grade students composed of 370 children aged 7.82+/-0.62 years (47.8% girls and 52.2% boys); 52.4% were from public schools and 47.6% were from private schools. Surveys were performed and anthropometric measurements, blood pressure (BP) values and glucose and lipid profiles in capillary blood were determined.


RESULTS
A total of 9.7% (36 schoolchildren) were obese and 13.8% were overweight. There were no differences according to sex or school system. Abdominal obesity was observed in 69.4% (p<0.0001), normal-high BP (90-97th percentile) in 27.8% (p<0.0001), dyslipidemia in 66.7% (p<0.05) and metabolic syndrome in 38.9% (p<0.0001) of the obese children compared with 1.3%, 5.1%, 48.9% and 0.4% of the children with normal weight, respectively. No association was found between fasting hyperglycemia and obesity. There were no cases of hypertension or diabetes mellitus. The risk (odds ratio) for normal-high BP, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome was 6.3, 2.2, 60.9, and 70.2 times higher in obese children than in non-obese children, respectively. A positive and significant correlation was found between waist circumference and body mass index with BP and the atherogenic indexes triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol/HDL-C and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/HDL-C (p=0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with cities in other countries, the city of Mérida, Venezuela, has an intermediate prevalence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren. The high frequency of cardiovascular risk factors in the obese and its positive correlation with adiposity highlights the need to implement population-based strategies for its prevention in childhood.
Paoli
Mariela
M
Unidad de Endocrinología, Instituto Autónomo Hospital Universitario de Los Andes, and Departamento de Fisiopatología, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. paolimariela@hotmail.com
Uzcátegui
Lilia
L
Zerpa
Yajaira
Y
Gómez-Pérez
Roald
R
Camacho
Nolis
N
Molina
Zarela
Z
Cichetti
Rosanna
R
Vallarroel
Vanessa
V
Fargier
Andrea
A
Arata-Bellabarba
Gabriela
G
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012574:Schools / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology