A profile of heart disease risk factors and their relation to parents' education, fathers' occupation and family history of heart disease in 843 South Australian families: the Adelaide Children's WHO Collaborative Study.

OBJECTIVE

A study was conducted to determine whether the prevalence of risk factors among pre-adolescent children is associated with their parents' risk factor status and what influence family history of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and socio-economic status (SES) had.

METHODOLOGY

This was a cross-sectional study of 856 children, mean age 8.6 years, and their parents who underwent the World Health Organization and National Heart Foundation protocols for the study of arteriosclerosis precursors. Historical, demographic, anthropometric, clinical and biochemical outcome measures were used.

RESULTS

There was the expected burden of illness reported for the grandparents and parents, with the latter conforming to their expected age group's heart disease risk factor status. The mean serum total cholesterol (TC) level for boys was 4.43 (+/- 0.79) mmol/L and girls 4.62 (+/- 0.84) mmol/L, with the 95th percentile for boys and girls combined being 5.88 mmol/L. The level corresponding to two standard deviations above the mean was 6.0 mmol/L. Childrens' IHD risk factor status reflected their parents' with TC, skin fold thickness and body mass index most closely correlated, followed by blood pressure. The greatest correlation was between the childrens' TC and their mothers'. Socio-economic status as assessed by the parents' education level and fathers' occupational status produced differences in their childrens' risk factors, with mother's level of education having the major influence. There was no impact of family history of IHD.

CONCLUSIONS

From these results it would appear that screening of the pre-adolescent may be appropriate but longitudinal study will be important to establish this by documenting persistence of risk factor status. Also, it would appear that a child's future risk from IHD morbidity may be due to environmental influences mediated through differences in SES. As the level of IHD risk factors is reduced within the community, the extent of parent-child transmission of measurable IHD risk factors in families of high IHD risk may be reduced.