Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Adolescent Secondary School Boys in Ahad Rufeida, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

• Published in: Journal of tropical pediatrics (1980) Vol. 57; no. 5; pp. 382 - 384
• Main Authors: Shatoor, Abdullah S., Mahfouz, Ahmed A., Khan, Mohamed Y., Daffalla, Asim A., Mostafa, Osama, Hammad, Rafik K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01-10-2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; Consanguinity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Exercise; General aspects; Humans; Hypertension - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Saudi Arabia - epidemiology; Schools; Smoking - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Saudi Arabia; Asia; Human; Pediatrics; Adolescent; Risk factor; Cardiovascular risk; Tropical medicine; Cardiovascular disease; Child; School environment
• ISSN: 0142-6338; 1465-3664
• DOI: 10.1093/tropej/fmq108

A cross-sectional stratified sample of 1249 adolescent secondary school boys was studied. More than 25% of boys did not practice any physical exercise. More than half of the parents (54.5%) were consanguineous. High prevalence of parental history of hypertension, diabetes and high blood lipids was found. Smoking amounted to 11.8%. The prevalence of obesity was 23.3%. The study showed that 6.8% had a high systolic blood pressure and 13.0% (162) had high diastolic blood pressure. There is a need for a national programme to prevent and control cardiovascular risk factors among adolescents.