Eating habits and presence of cardiovascular risks in children.

INTRODUCTION: The changes in the eating habits associated with physical inactivity are directly related to the increase in the prevalence of obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the frequency of consumption of some food groups (snacks, fruits, vegetables and candies), physical exercise, nutritional classification and biochemical profile in children.

METHODS: After the approval of the Ethics Committee, we studied 882 schoolchildren ranging between 6 and 10 years of age. Biochemical and anthropometric evaluations were performed and questionnaires were used in order to check the eating habits and physical activity.

RESULTS: Our results showed that we may relate the consumption of snacks, fruits, vegetables or candies with modifications in the glycemia, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-c, and LDL-c but we did not observe association with the nutritional classification. It is noteworthy to say that almost 50% of the studied children were overweight or obese and many presented alterations in the lipid and glucose levels.

CONCLUSION: Our results also show that many children have abnormal levels of lipids and glycemia and a great number of them are classified as overweight or obese. In this context, we can say that urgent approaches are needed to be carried out by a multidisciplinary team in order to improve the diet and reduces the risk factors in this population of children and prevent secondary diseases in adolescence and adulthood.