Lipidic, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Body Composition Profile of a Sample of 8th graders from Canoas/RS

Nowadays cardiovascular diseases (CD) are the main causes of death in the world and consist in a series of risk factors that seem to have their origin during childhood and adolescence. Thus, early diagnostic of CID risk factors should be frequently performed from young population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the lipidic (LP), the cardiorespiratory fitness (CarFit), and the body composition (BC) profile of 13/14 years old students, and compare these variables between sexes. The sample was composed of 41 students (21 boys and 20 girls) 8(th) graders of a private school from Canoas city, RS, voluntarily selected in a non-probabilistic way. The LP (triglycerides - TRI; total cholesterol - TC; HDL and LDL) of the students was measured through standard technique at a clinical analyses laboratory. The CarFit was measured through a 9- minute run/walk test (PROESP-BR, 2002). The BC was measured through the body mass index (BMI) and by the sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds (Sigma SK). Descriptive analysis was used for data analysis and for the analysis per criteria the criteria suggested by AHA (NHI PARENT'S GUIDE, 1993) were used, for the CarFit and BID, the criteria suggested by PROESP-BR (2002) were used. The results pointed out that concerning central tendency analysis, the PL, the CarFit and the 3C demonstrated normal results. However, when the analysis was made from the criteria, some cases out of the recommended band have been detected (TRI-4.9%, TC-12.2%, HDL-36.6% and LDL-4.9%), and a great proportion of students out of the recommended band for CarFit (61 %) and 3C (BMI-17.1 % and Sigma SK 48.8%). Moreover, the results show that there are differences between sexes in the mean values of CarFit and BMI to the boys and on the Sigma SK and HDL to the girls. Concerning the recommended band distributions to each variable, there were no associations with the sexes. The obtained results are worrisome and demonstrate even in a small sample, the existence of all the studied risk factors to DC in the students.