Coronary heart disease risk factors in school children: The Muscatine study

The frequency of coronary risk factors was documented in 4,829 school children in Muscatine, Iowa, over a 14-month period of time. Serum cholesterol levels were similar for children at all ages; the mean serum cholesterol level was 182 mg/dl (SD±29). Twenty-four percent had levels ≥200 mg/dl, 9% were≥220 mg/dl, 3% were ≥240 mg/dl, and 1% were≥260 mg/dl. Casual levels of serum triglyceride increased with age: the mean level was 71 mg/dl (SD±36) at age 6 years and 108 mg/dl (SD±45) at age 18 years. Only 15% of the children had serum triglyceride levels of 140 mg/dl or more. Blood pressure increased strikingly with age. No child between 6 and 9 years of age had blood pressures ≥140 mm Hg systolic or ≥90 mm Hg diastolic. In the age group 14 to 18 years, 8.9% had systolic blood pressures ≥140 mm Hg, 12.2% had diastolic blood pressures ≥90 mm Hg, and in 4.4% both pressures were at or above these levels. Obesity also increased through the school years. At ages 6 to 9 years, 20% had weights relative to those of the group as a whole of ≥110%, and 8% were ≥130%; in the 14 to 18 years age group, 25% had relative weights of ≥110%, and 8% were ≥130%. These data indicate that a considerable number of school-age children have risk factors which in adults are predictive of coronary heart disease.