Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Feb 4:5:13.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-5-13.

Parental educational level and cardiovascular disease risk factors in schoolchildren in large urban areas of Turkey: directions for public health policy

Bike Kocaoglu  1 , George Moschonis, Maria Dimitriou, Maria Kolotourou, Yasar Keskin, Haydar Sur, Osman Hayran, Yannis Manios
Affiliations

Parental educational level and cardiovascular disease risk factors in schoolchildren in large urban areas of Turkey: directions for public health policy

Bike Kocaoglu et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: It is widely accepted that the development of atherosclerosis starts at an early age. However, there are very few studies evaluating the prevalence of the common clinical and behavioral cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among children, especially in developing countries. The aim of the present cross-sectional survey was to evaluate the distribution of blood lipid profile and various behavioral (i.e. dietary habits, physical activity status) factors related to CVD risk and its relationships to paternal (PEL) and maternal educational level (MEL) among primary schoolchildren in Turkey.

Methods: In three major metropolises in Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir), a random sample of 1044 children aged 12 and 13 years old was examined. ANOVA was applied to evaluate the tested hypothesis, after correcting for multiple comparisons (Tukey correction).

Results: After controlling for energy and fat intake, physical activity status and Body Mass Index (BMI), it was found that mostly PEL had a significant positive effect for most of the subgroups examined (Lower vs. Higher and Medium vs. Higher) on TC and HDL-cholesterol and a negative effect on TC/HDL ratio for both genders. Furthermore, both boys and girls with higher PEL and MEL were found to have higher energy intake derived from fat and protein than their counterparts with Medium and Lower PEL and MEL, while the opposite was observed for the percentage of energy derived from carbohydrates.

Conclusions: Our study provides indications for a possible association between an adverse lipid profile, certain dietary patterns and Higher PEL and MEL among schoolchildren in Turkey. These findings underline the possible role of social status, indicated by the degree of education of both parents, in developing certain health behaviors and health indices among Turkish children and provide some guidance for Public Health Policy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Journal. 2003;916:1–149. backcover. - PubMed
    1. Labarthe DR. Epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular diseases: a global challenge. Gaitherburg, MD: Aspen Publishers; 1998.
    1. Bhatnagar D. The metabolic basis of increased coronary risk attributed to people from the Indian sub- continent. Curr Sci. 1998;74:1087–1094.
    1. Minh HV, Byass P, Wall S. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Bavi District, Vietnam. Scand. Scand J Public Health. 2003:26–31. doi: 10.1080/14034950310015077. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guo SS, Huang C, Demerath E, Towne B, Chumlea WC, Siervogel RM. Body mass index during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood in relation to adult overweight and adiposity: the Fels Longitudinal Study. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000;24:1628–1635. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801461. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types