Blood pressure, fitness, and fatness in 5- and 6-year-old children

Article Abstract:

Evidence is accumulating that cardiovascular disease begins in childhood, and it is possible that risk factors such as high blood pressure (BP) could be influenced by eating and exercise patterns in early life. Fat children may tend to have elevated BP and lower activity levels; if so, lowering children's blood pressure would be a way to prevent subsequent cardiovascular disease. To learn more about these factors, the SCAN (Study Children's Activity and Nutrition) longitudinal study has been initiated. The goal is to evaluate young children (aged five or six years) in New York City. Two hundred sixteen primarily Hispanic (91 percent) or non-Hispanic black (7 percent) children were the focus of the report. Blood pressure was measured and the children's hearts were evaluated while they walked on a treadmill (to test aerobic fitness). The body mass index (BMI), a measure of obesity, was calculated by dividing a subject's weight by height. Other body measurements were taken, and the thickness of skinfolds at different places on the body (a way of estimating body fat) was evaluated. Results showed that boys had higher aerobic fitness than girls, while BMIs did not differ between the sexes. Boys or girls who were more aerobically fit had lower diastolic BP (the blood pressure during the heart's resting phase), and fatter boys had higher diastolic BP. Systolic BP (during the heart's contracting phase) was higher in fatter boys and girls. Boys, in general, were more fit than girls. For all children studied, fitness and fatness were inversely related, a result that has not been found in children in Czechoslovakia and Holland. The findings indicate that early intervention could be considered for children as young as five and six years old to help prevent cardiovascular disease. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Cardiovascular diseases, Hypertension, Measurement, Complications and side effects, Physiological aspects, Development and progression, Pediatric diseases, Children, Food and nutrition, Physical fitness, Exercise, Exercise for children, Child health, Obesity in children, Childhood obesity, Hypertension in children

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The case against 'the case against childhood cholesterol screening'

Article Abstract:

The safety and effectiveness of screening cholesterol levels in children and treating those with high blood levels of cholesterol have been questioned. It was recently concluded by some researchers that many children found to have elevated cholesterol levels will not have high levels when they are adults. The authors believe that the data and reasoning behind this conclusion are erroneous. In one study, the methods used to determine sensitivity (those who actually had high cholesterol levels) were biased. Using a different cut-off point could have led to a different conclusion, and shown a more significant correlation with high cholesterol levels in adulthood. In this study, the cholesterol levels of the children were actually higher than those reported in other studies. These measurements were used as baselines and could alter the interpretation of adult cholesterol levels. Other studies have shown that cholesterol levels change with age, while this study did not show a change. The possibility that the diets of children with high levels of cholesterol were altered and may have affected adults levels was not taken into consideration, although concern about undernutrition with low-fat diets was discussed. Another study concluded that to reduce high cholesterol levels in children, treatment methods must be more effective than those used in adults. However, the authors feel that all methods of reduction are significant, regardless of patient age. It is felt that early screening and prevention of high levels of cholesterol are beneficial; recent studies that come to different conclusions have flaws in their data, reasoning and conclusions. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Demographic aspects, Preventive health services, Preventive medicine, Hypercholesterolemia, editorial

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Screening Mammography Under Age 50

Article Abstract:

Mammography screening for breast cancer should be offered to women at high risk beginning at age 40 years, and to women with no risk factors beginning between 45 and 50 years of age. Mammography can detect very small tumors that a woman or her physician might not even feel. Seven clinical trials showed that regular mammograms could lower the risk of death from breast cancer by 25% to 30%. However, this benefit occurred mostly in women 50 years old or older. Younger woman are not very likely to develop breast cancer and mammography has a high false-positive rate.

Analysis, Diagnosis, Breast cancer, Mammography

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