OS 34-07 BEIJING CHILDREN' CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IS GETTING WORSE FROM 2004 TO 2014.

OBJECTIVE: The American Heart Association's (AHA) 2020 Strategic Goals defined a new concept of cardiovascular health (CVH) for adults and children, emphasizing the importance of early prevention of risk factors. CV disease risk factors track from childhood to adulthood, which should be closely monitored over time. However, detailed data on the trends in CVH among children are sparse. Therefore, by adopting the construct from the AHA, the present study seeks to evaluate the changes of ideal CVH, as well as each component, among Chinese children and adolescents in Beijing.

DESIGN AND METHOD: We used data from cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2004 and 2014 including 5,596 children and adolescents aged 6-18years. Ideal CVH was defined as meeting all ideal levels of the following components: four behaviors (smoking, body mass index, physical activity and diet) and three factors (total cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose).

RESULTS: Almost all ideal CVH components decreased from 2004 through 2014 among children and adolescents in Beijing, while the prevalence of ideal physical activity increased (from 19.6% [95% CI, 18.3%-20.9%] to 47.6% [95% CI, 45.1%-50.1%]; p < 0.001). The prevalence of children meeting all seven CVH metrics was low, and declined from 2.5% [95% CI, 2.0%-3.1%] to 1.0% [95% CI, 0.4%-1.6%] over the study period. Disparities in ideal CVH behaviors were observed between parental education > 12 versus < 12 years, and poverty-income ratio of >2 versus <2 (all, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Adverse trends in ideal cardiovascular health over the past 10 years were observed among Chinese children and adolescents. Comprehensive individual and population-based interventions must be developed to promote cardiovascular health in China.