title: Associated factors to total cholesterol: school based study in southern Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence has suggested that a significant proportion of children and adolescents has high levels of total cholesterol.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and associated factors in 07-12 year-old school children.
  
  
  METHODS
  School based cross sectional study of a random sample of 1,294 07-12 year-old school children from Caxias do Sul/RS, Brazil. The students answered an interview with information on socioeconomic status, food habits, and physical and leisure activities. Total cholesterol, cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass and height were measured to calculate body mass index. For the data treatment, univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyzes were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The multivariate analysis identified that individuals from high socioeconomic level (OR: 1.70; CI: 1.05-2.75), of female gender (OR: 1.32; CI: 1.03-1.67), and overweight (OR: 1.40; IC: 1.10-1.77) had increased chances of having increased total cholesterol (> 3rd tercile).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High total cholesterol levels on 07-12 year-old school children are associated with high socioeconomic level, female gender, and overweight. Encouraging an active life style and appropriate dietary habits can help control cholesterol levels and reduce risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Ulbra, Canoas.
authors.forename: Mauren Lúcia de Araújo
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: Gabriel Gustavo
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Ricardo Rodrigo
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Rech
authors.forename: Cristine Boom
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Constanzi
authors.forename: Lidiane Requia
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Alli
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol