Prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in scholars from Londrina, PR: differences between socio- economic status

Objective: To analyze and compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in scholars from different socio-economic status. Methods: A total of 1021 children and adolescents were evaluated. Weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. Both physical activity practice and socio-economic status (low and high) were reported. Results were analyzed through frequencies of variables and the chi-square test. Results: A lower prevalence of physical inactivity (p<0.001) and higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (p=0.038) and overweight (p=0.010) were observed in the sample from high socio-economic status. No differences regarding elevated blood pressure were observed in those from low and high socio-economic status. When the cardiovascular risk factors were aggregated, the prevalence of one or two factors was also higher among the subjects from high socio-economic status. Conclusion: With the exception of physical inactivity and elevated blood pressure, the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was higher in those from high socio-economic status.