Status of Cardiovascular Health in Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate cardiovascular health (CVH) status and the associations with sociodemographic characteristics among Chinese children and adolescents. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed baseline data of 15583 participants aged 7-17y from a Chinese national intervention program against obesity (2013-2014). CVH status was estimated by four health behaviors (non-smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet) and three health factors (total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)), using revised American Heart Association criteria. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics and CVH. Findings: The prevalence of ideal CVH status was 1.7% (boys 1.9%, girls 1.6%) in the study population. The prevalence of ideal CVH behaviors and ideal health factors were 3.1% (boys 3.3%, girls 3.0%) and 53.6% (boys 52.4%, girls 54.9%). Ideal FPG was the most prevalent component (boys 94.4%, girls 97.4%), whereas ideal physical activity (boys 34.6%, girls 23.9%) and diet (boys, 28.3%; girls, 30.1%) were the least prevalent. Girls, younger age, undeveloped economy, southern region, no family history were associated with more ideal CVH metrics. Interpretation: Ideal CVH status in Chinese children and adolescents is alarmingly rare. Physical activity and diet are key to CVH promotion. Effective interventions are needed to improve health disparities in terms of socio-demographic characteristics. Funding Information: This project has been funded by the Special Research Grant for Non-profit Public Service of the Ministry of Health of China (No.201202010), the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No.2017A030313844 and No.2021A1515010439), and the Research fund for medical science. Declaration of Interests: No conflicts of interest exist. Ethics Approval Statement: The Ethical Committee of Peking University approved the study’s protocol. All students and parents participated in this study with written informed consent voluntarily.