| Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. While some decline in death rates from cardiovascular disease has occurred in the last decade, there is an increase in risk factors among children. Childhood overweight is increasing, and higher rates of type II diabetes have been identified in children. Ethnic disparities exist in risk factors and in health care, so focus is needed on minority groups to understand their risks and design effective strategies for health improvement.; This study examined the cardiovascular risk factors of a multi-ethnic population of 100 Indian, Hispanic, White, and mixed race children attending school in rural central Washington. Children ranged from 9 to 15 years of age and attended 4th through 8th grades. The objectives were to describe the children's demographic data, family history, dietary intakes, physical measurements, and serum values for selected cardiovascular risk factor variables; and to describe differences among ethnic groups. There were no differences among ethnic groups for weight or body mass index. Mean percentiles were 58 for height, 71 for weight, and 76 for body mass index. Mean insulin level was 10.22 μU/mL with range from 2 to 32. Serum insulin values were significantly different among the ethnic groups, with Indian females having the highest value (mean = 17.9 μU/ml), and Hispanic males the lowest (mean = 6.6 μU/mL). Almost 50% of the variance in the insulin levels across the sample was explained by gender, age, body mass index percentile, serum glucose, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and diastolic blood pressure. Average lipid/lipoprotein levels were within recommended levels (total cholesterol = 166 mg/dL; LDL-C = 101 mg/dL; HDL-C = 49 mg/dL; triglyceride = 83 mg/dL), but some children had values putting them at moderate or high risk (TC = 36%; LDL-C = 29%; HDL-C = 6%; Triglycerides = 26%). Homocysteine mean was 5.8 μmol/L; this variable did not relate to other risk factors.; Childhood cardiovascular risk factor identification should be integrated into health care of individuals and populations; early detection can be used to promote health and lower cardiovascular risk. |
