Secular trends in cardiovascular risk factors among school-aged boys from Crete, Greece, 1982-2002

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine secular trends in major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, that is, obesity and dyslipidaemia, among Cretan children during 1982 - 2002. Design: Epidemiological survey. Setting and subjects: A total of 528 boys in 1982 and 620 boys in 2002, aged 12.1 +/- 0.1 y, were randomly selected from urban and rural regions throughout the county of Iraklio, Crete, Greece. Care was taken so that all procedures in 2002 closely matched those in 1982. Results: Mean height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were 1.1, 9.6, and 8.4% higher, respectively, in 2002 vs 1982 ( P<0.001). The prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen by 63 and 202%, respectively ( P<0.001). Contemporary children were found to have 3.6% higher total cholesterol (TC), 24.9% lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), 25.3% higher low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), 19.4% higher triacylglycerol, 36.6% higher TC/HDL-C ratio, and 60.3% higher LDL-C/HDL-C ratio compared with their peers in 1982 ( P<0.003). These differences persisted even when adjusting for BMI ( P<0.02). The proportion of children having abnormal lipid values was much greater nowadays than in the 1980s, yielding odds ratios of 1.4 - 8.8 ( P<0.005). Conclusions: Results are indicative of a largely deteriorated CVD risk profile in Cretan children since 1982, and predict an unfavourable CVD morbidity and mortality for this population in the foreseeable future. Sponsorship: Greek Ministry of Sports and Kellogg Europe.