Abstract

CABAL GINER, María de los Ángeles; HERNANDEZ OVIEDO, Giselle; TORRES DIAZ, Gertrudis  and  GUERRA MA RIN, Maricela. Alterations of nutritional status and blood pressure as early signals of atherosclerosis in adolescents. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2010, vol.26, n.2. ISSN 0864-2125.

Introduction: atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in Cuba and every day more young people lost their lives. Objectives: to identify the nutritional status and blood pressure ant to try to establish if there is some relation between them in apparently healthy adolescents aged between 12 and 14 from "Josué País" Secondary School from the Puentes Grandes Teaching Polyclinic health area. Methods: a cross-sectional, descriptive and observational study was conducted in 302 students aged between 12 and 14 from "Josué País" Secondary School of "Puentes Grandes" Teaching Polyclinic care area. A individual questioning and physical examination was carried out according to the Collection Model of Primary Information from the Research and Reference Center of Atherosclerosis of La Habana. Study variable included: age, sex height, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and body mass index. Ethical principles of a scientific research were taken into account. Results: the was a 15.5 % of excess weight and a 4.96 % of obeses, as well as a 7.9 % of pre-hypertensive and a 0.66 % of hypertensive with a increasing trend in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive percentages in so far as increased the values of body mass index in study group. Conclusions: results obtained are the reason to continue the search of the Early Atherosclerosis Signal to prevent atherosclerotic-origin diseases in adulthood.

Keywords : Obesity; high blood pressure; adolescence; early signals; atherosclerosis.

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