A parental history of cardiovascular disease has a strong relationship with risk factor clusters in the offspring. This study was performed to identify major cardiovascular risk factors in middle school-aged children and their parents in both high and low-risk families.
Design
A school-based, cross-sectional study.
Methods
The middle schools of the 6th district of Tehran were divided randomly into two groups. A total of 169 high-risk children with their families were recruited from the first group and 105 low-risk children with their families were recruited from the second group of schools. Anthropometric and metabolic measurements were performed.
Results
The means of the waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were significantly higher in high-risk fathers. The means of total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were significantly higher in both parents and children of the high-risk group. The means of the fasting plasma glucose were significantly higher in fathers and offspring of high-risk families. More fathers in high-risk families were smokers. The prevalence of increased total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and hyperglycemia (≥100mg/dl) were higher in high-risk parents and children. The prevalence of increased body mass index (≥25 kg/m2 for parents and 85th percentile for children) was higher in fathers and children of high-risk families.
Conclusions
Cardiovascular risk factors are more prevalent and clustered in high-risk families. The screening of high-risk families is essential to prevent the progression of atherosclerosis from childhood and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
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