Introduction:

Cardiovascular diseases include a number of conditions whose emergence is associated to similar risk factors.

Objective:

Characterize students with risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The study universe was the 502 tenth and eleventh grade students in Hermanos Martínez Tamayo Senior High School in the municipality of Mayarí, province of Holguín. The sample selected by simple random analysis was 345 students with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The data were processed with SPSS v.15.0.

Results:

A high prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease was found among the 15- and 16-year-old students evaluated (44.05%). Exposure to tobacco was 10.73%, whereas 26.08% of the sample had started consuming alcohol at an early age. There was a predominance of hypertension (40%).

Conclusions:

Hypertension prevailed as a family and personal antecedent. A predominance was found of alcohol consumption in the male sex. Most students do not have healthy lifestyles. It is thus indispensable to work on their promotion to reduce or prevent the increase in cardiovascular risk. Fostering healthy lifestyles improves the quality of life.

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