Lipid profile in school children: study from a District of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Background:Lipid imbalance when diagnosed in childhood, can forecast the development of atherosclerosis in adulthood and its complications. Therefore, early detection of dyslipidemia should begin in childhood and it should lead to long-term prevention of atherosclerosis by controlling the risk factors. The Objectives of the study were to study lipid profile of children in the age group of 10-19 years and the prevalence of dyslipidemia among them.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, which was conducted in 300 children aged 10 to 19 years, of either sex, from schools of Barabanki. After getting consent from school authorities, children and their parents, a detailed history was taken with a pre-designed pro forma and fasting blood samples were analyzed for lipid profile.Results:Mean total cholesterol (TC) for boys and girls were 161.06±33.14 mg/dl and 164.68±33.53 mg/dl, LDL-C 99.35±27.41 mg/dl and 101.71±26.44 mg/dl, HDL-C 42.76±5.78 mg/dl and 43.93±5.68 mg/dl, VLDL-C 18.94±4.47 mg/dl and 19.04±4.97 mg/dl and triglycerides (TG) 94.69±22.34 mg/dl and 95.20±24.83 mg/dl respectively. Serum TC, TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C and HDL-C levels were higher in girls than in boys for all age groups. 26.55% boys and 25.20% girls had TC levels above 190 mg/dl. The overall results revealed that 26.0% of children had hypercholesterolemia.Conclusions:The study presents age- and sex-related findings about the dynamics of changes in serum lipid levels in children. Significant number of children had hypercholesterolemia.