On the advantage of screening kindergarten children for atherogenesis-related risk indicators.

On the basis of our practical experience we can recommend screening of young children outside the clinic. Our methodology has proven to be appropriate for this purpose. Among young children, three groups are easily accessible: Newborns - since delivery occurs mostly in a clinic; infants up to one year - since these children are provided with basic medical care, and kindergarten children. According to our experience, kindergartens are favorable places for screening children because many children are together in one place. Children of this age can be easily motivated to cooperate during the examination, and since they stay in the kindergartens for a considerable period of the day, they only can be guided by nurses who can provide positive motivation for educational programs. As an additional advantage, the cooperation between nurses and parents, as well as positive influence on the parents, by the nurses might be taken into account. In this context, nurses must be regarded as key persons for strategies when considering life-style changes. Identifying children at risk at this early age could shorten the pathogenetic period and increase the chance for regression of the atherosclerotic disease process. Furthermore, children of this age are willing to learn and to change their habits. There is also a possibility that children may implant in their families experiences and information obtained in the kindergartens. Such parents might be more open to advice from kindergarten personnel, and thus also profit for themselves. An additional and valuable advantage of screening kindergarten children is the possibility of detecting first-degree relatives at risk before clinical manifestation of the disease, thereby having a good chance for successful intervention.