CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS AND DIETARY HABITS IN SECONDARY-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SOUTHERN ITALY

Interest in research on atherosclerosis involving children has been the consequence of confluent evidence that atherogenic process begins in early life and grows silently until the occurrence of clinical events in middle-age or later. We carried out a cross-study in the Mediterranean area on a random sample of a secondary school of Casteldaccia (a farming and fishing village located on the Northern coast of Sicily, East of Palermo), consisting of 186 teen-agers (103 males and 83 females) aged between 10 and 13 years (average age: 11.3 +/- 0.2 years). We determined: total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol, apolipoproteins Al and B, glycaemia, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Dietary habits were recorded on two occasions by a weekly diary (of the 7 days food record type) with the collaboration of dieticians. The prevalence of plasma cholesterol levels between 170-200 mg% and exceeding 200 mg% was 24.2% and 12.4% respectively, of overweight (BMI>25) was 9.7% and of hypertension (SBP > 125 and/or DBP > 85 mmHg) was 8.6%. In comparison with Mediterranean diet according to Euratom study (1969), the following are the most impressive findings: an increase of cholesterol (+54%) and fat intake (+2% of total calories), a reduction of fibre intake (-32%) and an increase of 2S-P difference (+27%) and of total fats/fibre ratio (+53%).