OBJECTIVE: To analyze the nutritional status of children and adolescents living in a region with inadequate care of basic needs in order to detect nutritional and growth problems that are potential risk factors of cardiovascular events in the adult age. METHODS: Cross sectional descriptive study that enrolled 136 children and adolescents between five and 15 years old, living in two regions of Santa Fé City, Argentine. Data collected included: socioeconomic characteristics (schooling, causes of school absenteeism and type of feeding), clinical data (blood pressure), anthropometric data (weight, height and body mass index) and laboratorial data (hemoglobin, hematocrit and blood lipids). Statistical analysis included chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression to determine a predictor model of hypertension. RESULTS: The studied population presented a mean age of age of 10±2.6 years, 49% were female, 22% presented some type of malnutrition, 11% overweight or obesity, 20% hypertension and 49% had some altered parameter of the blood lipid profile. According to the logistic regression, female gender (OR=3.64; 95%CI=1.13-11.73) as well as LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio (OR=2.57; 95%CI=1.00-6.62) increased the risk of arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional problems in infancy and adolescence increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in these ages and, probably, in the adult life, mainly in the presence of risk factors such as serum lipid profile alteration, obesity, and female gender.
anthropometry; protein-energy malnutrition; obesity; hypertension
