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Combined impact of negative lifestyle factors on cardiovascular risk in children: a randomized prospective study

Ursina Meyer1, Christian Schindler2, Tamara Bloesch3

  • 1Centre on Aging and Mobility, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Human Movement Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine
|September 25, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Accumulating negative lifestyle factors in children significantly increases cardiovascular risk (CVR) over four years. Early assessment of these factors in clinical practice can aid in childhood CVR prevention.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
  • Lifestyle Medicine

Background:

  • Negative lifestyle factors are linked to increased cardiovascular risk (CVR) in children.
  • Research on the combined impact of these factors in a general pediatric population is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify the combined impact of easily assessable negative lifestyle factors on CVR scores in children over a 4-year period.
  • To investigate the association between the number of negative lifestyle factors and CVR in a general pediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 502 children (aged 6-13) underwent baseline health assessments, with 64% followed up after 4 years.
  • Lifestyle factors assessed included overweight, physical inactivity, high media use, low outdoor time, skipping breakfast, and parental smoking/inactivity/overweight.
  • Cardiovascular risk (CVR) score at follow-up was based on waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, HDL, and triglycerides.

Main Results:

  • Children with five or more negative lifestyle factors had a 63.5% probability of being in the highest CVR score tertile after 4 years.
  • The probability of high CVR scores increased progressively with the number of negative lifestyle factors, from 15.4% for one factor to 63.5% for five or more.
  • These associations remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, pubertal stage, and social class.

Conclusions:

  • An accumulation of negative lifestyle factors in childhood is associated with elevated CVR scores within 4 years.
  • These lifestyle factors are readily identifiable in clinical settings, enabling early detection and prevention strategies for childhood CVR.
Abstract

Keywords:
BehaviorBreakfastLongitudinalMedia consumptionMetabolic syndromeOverweightParentsPhysical activity

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