The cardiovascular risk factor profile of Estonian school children

This cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the occurrence of conventional cardiovascular risk factors in Estonian school children after the socioeconomic changes of the early 1990s. A total of 1018 9-, 12- and 15-y-old randomly selected children were studied for lipid and lipoprotein profiles, blood pressure, weight, height, regular smoking, physical activity and family history of premature cardiovascular disease. In 11-24% of the children, total cholesterol levels were at or above the risk cut-off of 5.2 mmol l(-1), 3-5% of the children were considered to be obese and 6-12% had blood pressure higher than the age- and gender-specific 95th percentile of height. Of the 15-y-old girls and boys, 1% and 10%, respectively, admitted being daily smokers. Five percent of girls and 20% of boys smoked at least once a week. Ten to 18% of children reported little physical activity. According to age groups, 17-25% of the children had a family history of premature cardiovascular disease. The occurrence of three or more risk factors simultaneously characterized only the older age group, in which 2.3% of girls and 3.5% of boys exhibited clustering of potential cardiovascular risk factors. Our findings showed a relatively low frequency of obesity and low mean blood lipid levels with a high proportion of smokers among children in late puberty, implying that preventive efforts should focus on pubertal children to prevent adverse health behaviour.