Some cardiovascular risk factors in Gypsy children and adolescents from Central Slovakia

Atherosclerosis could develope in the presence of CVD risk factors in early age.

To determine some risk factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Gypsy children and adolescents from Central Slovakia.

Study population (Gypsy/Caucasian ethnicities) consisted of 198 Gypsy children and adolescents (101 males and 97 females) aged 7-18 and 140 non-Gypsy children and adolescents (72 males and 68 females) from 3 Central Slovakia cities.

After 12 hours overnight fasting, venous blood samples were drawn in the morning. TC and TG were determined enzymatically. HDL-C after selective precipitation, lipoproteins containing apolipoprotein-B and LDL-C were calculated using Friedewald formula. Anthropometric measurements, including weight and height were used to calculate BMI, while waist and hip circumference for WHR. BP was also measured and used to classify hypertension.

Gypsy population had statistically lower values of BMI, TC, LDL-C and HDL-C in comparison to the general population. BMI was positively correlated to systolic BP (0.476**) and TG (0.182*); BMI was negatively correlated to the HDL-C (-0.298**), this was especially significant for the males (-0.400**). The most frequent CVD risk factors were low HDL-C (29.9%) and high WHR (29.3%). The Gypsy children and adolescents showed presence of bad lifestyle related negative risk factors (e.g cigarette smoking, family history of CVD and lower socio-economic status).

The results of the study should lead to improvement in pediatric health treatment for Gypsy children to prevent risk factors leading to the early onset and further development of atherosclerosis (Tab. 7, Ref. 30). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.