Cardiovascular risk factors in obese children/Fatores de risco cardiovasculares em criancas obesas

Prepubertal children with excess weight are already exposed to cardiovascular risk factors that affect negatively the vascular endothelium and the intima media of the blood vessels inducing atherosclerotic changes. The objective of this review is to bring to the attention of health professionals the importance of early identification and intervention in children with excess weight, a known risk factor for metabolic syndrome, with the goal of preventing the development of chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases. Obesity affects people of all ages and is considered an epidemic in children and adolescents, already the most important health challenge of the 21st century. Previously considered an adult disease, atherosclerosis is now believed to initiate during childhood. The proof that excess weight and its cardiovascular risk factors persist to adulthood came from at least three large cohort studies: the Muscatine Study, the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, and the Bogalusa Heart Study. The length of time exposed to the multiple risk factors during this stage of life seems to be directly associated to cardiovascular disease morbimortality. The demonstration that cardiovascular diseases may have their origin during childhood creates the necessity to investigate their risk factors during this period of time with the goal to plan earlier and, possibly, more effective interventions to reduce in the future the cardiovascular disease morbimortality.