Prevalence of Cardiovascular risk factors among children in a rural school in Bangalore district, India
Journal Title: National Journal of Research in Community Medicine - Year 2014, Vol 3, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: Globally, Chronic non-communicable diseases are the leading causes of mortality globally. Among them, Cardiovascular disease is the single largest killer. Lifestyle habits formed during childhood have a profound impact on cardiovascular risk in later life. Objective: To assess the prevalence of risk factors for CVDs among children in a rural school. Methods: Design: Cross-sectional. Area: one school in a rural area, Anekal taluk, Bangalore. Population: All children studying in the 8th std were included in the study. Children absent on the day of our visit and those who did not give consent or assent were excluded from the study. Tool: A questionnaire was developed for the purpose of this study using the WHO STEPS questionnaire as the base. Data collected were analysed and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Of the 283 children, 52.6% were girls and 47.3% were boys with a mean age of 12.9 yrs. A majority (58.3%) of the study population used extra salt in the diet while 50.9% did not consume adequate quantities of fruits and vegetables daily. A majority (60%) was involved in high physical activity. A higher proportion of boys (74.6%) were involved in high intensity physical activity as compared to girls (46.9%) but a higher proportion of boys (64.2%) also followed sedentary lifestyle as compared to girls (47.7%). A mere 2.5% of the children gave a history of tobacco use while 1.1% gave a history of alcohol use. Passive smoking was seen among 40.6% of the children. The prevalence of pre-hypertension was found to be 4.9% and that of hypertension was 5%. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors among rural school children which needs to be addressed if we intend to prevent the epidemic of cardiovascular diseases in India.
Authors and Affiliations
Shailendra Kumar B. Hegde, Farah Naaz Fathima, Twinkle Agrawal, Deepthi N Shanbhag, Pretesh R Kiran, Arvind Kasthuri
Keywords
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