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

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 59, pages 1–7 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a research grant from the Greek Ministry of Sports and Kellogg Europe. We would like to acknowledge the help of our colleagues: Manolis Linardakis, Sofia Flouri, Christos Hatzis, Joanna Moschandreas, Caroline Codrington, George Mamalakis, Katerina Sarri, Michalis Kiriakakis, and Irini Markatji. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Kallithea, Athens, Greece

    F Magkos & Y Manios

  2. Nutrition Division, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    G Christakis

  3. Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Iraklio, Crete, Greece

    A G Kafatos

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  1. F Magkos
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Correspondence to A G Kafatos.

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Guarantor: AG Kafatos.

Contributors: FM and YM carried out data handling and analysis. GC and AGK were the principal investigators of the surveys in 1982 and 2002, respectively. All authors contributed to the interpretation of data and to the writing of the paper.

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Magkos, F., Manios, Y., Christakis, G. et al. Secular trends in cardiovascular risk factors among school-aged boys from Crete, Greece, 1982–2002. Eur J Clin Nutr 59, 1–7 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602023

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602023

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