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Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, Vol. 61, No. 8, August, 2007, pp. 474-476 Letter To Editor Coronary heart disease: Awareness of risk factors and lifestyle among school-going adolescents Banerjee Amitav Dept. of Community Medicine Pad, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pune - 411 018 Code Number: ms07077 Sir, The major risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) in adulthood appear to be determined to some extent by patterns of behavior established in childhood. Findings suggest adolescents lack knowledge regarding the risk for cardiovascular disease and do not perceive themselves at risk for cardiovascular disease. [1] Longitudinal observations of adolescents show risk factors like obesity persist over time and are linked to clustering of components of metabolic syndrome. [2] An Indian study shows a high prevalence of metabolic and dietetic coronary risk factors among the adolescents of the middle and upper class of India. [3] The present study was undertaken against this background to ascertain awareness of risk factors among school children. Population of school children attending classes 9 to 12 at the two Kendriya Vidyalayas located at Pune Cantonment was the sampling frame. From this, a sample of 500 school children of both sexes was drawn by stratified random sampling, the strata representing each school, both sexes and each class from 9 to 12. Within each stratum, subjects were selected by simple random sampling using a table of random numbers. Consent for the study was obtained from school authorities and the participants. Information was collected by face-to-face interview by the principal investigator. Majority (97.81%) of intermediate (11 th and 12 th classes) and 84.3% of high school (9 th and 10 th classes) children had heard of heart attack. However, only 88% of intermediate and 71% of high school children considered heart disease to be an important public health problem. Out of these, many (nearly 40%) considered heart disease relevant for people over 50 years. Only 42.6% of all students were of the opinion that CHD is preventable. Smoking, obesity and reduced physical activity were perceived as important top three risk factors for CHD. However, a very small percentage could identify raised serum cholesterol or hypertension as important risk factors [Table - 1],[Table - 2]. As many as 63.82% of high school boys and 82.32% of high school girls and 70.83% of intermediate boys and 83.08% of intermediate girls had sufficient knowledge of PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) having cardio-protective action. As many as 92.46% of high school boys and 81.94% of intermediate boys considered overweight as unhealthy, whereas 76.86% of high school girls and 87.7% of intermediate girls thought so, indicating a reversal of attitudes among boys and girls in the two groups. As many as 43% of high school children and 53% of intermediate children thought that obesity is hereditary, and 47.2% of all children preferred vegetarian food. Regarding smoking, 11.6% of high school boys and 18.06% of intermediate boys and 3.66% of high school girls and 5.56% of intermediate girls expressed that they were not averse to pick up smoking as a habit in due course of time. About 40.96% of boys and 40.6% of girls, overall, had more than 10 helpings per week of junk food. There was significantly better awareness in students of classes 11 and 12 as compared to those in classes 9 and 10 of the following risk factors: obesity ( P < 0.001), hypertension ( P < 0.001), salt intake ( P < 0.001), stress ( P < 0.001) and age ( P < 0.001). The present study has brought out that the knowledge about hypertension and increased blood cholesterol being risk factors was very low among the study population. As these two are major risk factors for CHD in later life, there is much scope for school health education on these risk factors. Another disturbing trend was the attitude of some to take up smoking as a regular habit. Imparting knowledge about the effects of tobacco exposure is important. [4] Awareness about modifiable risk factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, though present to some extent, was low. It is recommended that comprehensive population strategy for primary prevention of CHD should begin in childhood. Methods used in other settings can be adapted for school children. [5] References
Copyright 2007 - Indian Journal of Medical Sciences The following images related to this document are available:Photo images[ms07077t2.jpg] [ms07077t1.jpg] |
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![[Table - 1]](/showimage?ms/photo/ms07077t1.jpg){kind=link}
![[Table - 2]](/showimage?ms/photo/ms07077t2.jpg){kind=link}