Abstract:
Background: , once known as diseases of the
Western world have recently been emerged as diseases of public health
importance in many developing countries. Change in life style and socio-
economic status associated with urbanization is thought to be the major
contributing factor for this trend. In its message to the developing
countries, the World Health Organization has urged for a prompt control
of cardiovascular diseases at an early stage before the burden becomes
more severe. The need for Primordial Prevention has highly been
recommended.
Objective: To determine the prevalence, awareness and knowledge of
the conventional cardiovascular risk factors among primary school
children aged 6 - 15 years in Urban Dar es Salaam and Rural Morogoro.
Methods: Cross sectional survey of children aged 6 - 15 years from four
primary schools in Urban Dar es Salaam and two primary schools in
Rural Morogoro. Anthropometric and Blood Pressure measurements were
done using the standard techniques, blood samples taken and analysed
for sugar, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and
triglycerides levels. A standard questionnaire was used to obtain socio-
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demographic characteristics and to assess the level of awareness and
knowledge of the main cardiovascular diseases among the children.
Results: The prevalence of systolic, diastolic and both (systolic and
diastolic) hypertension was found to be 11.4%, 8.1% and 3.9%
respectively among the 508 children studied. Twenty one (4.1%) subjects
had high total cholesterol levels, while high LDL-C levels were found in
10 subjects (2%). The prevalence of obesity was found to be 5.3%. Only
six (1.2%) subjects were having active cigarette smoking. Passive
smoking was found in 35% of the total study population. Majority of the
study population were generally active. None of the subjects had blood
.,
sugar levels that were equivalent to diabetic levels.
Subjects from the Urban Low Density schools were more likely to be
hypertensive, obese and with high levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C,
furthermore they were more likely to have less physical activities as
compared to those from the Urban High Density and Rural schools. In
addition, subjects from ULD schools were more likely to be aware and to
have more knowledge of cardiovascular diseases as compared to those
from the UHD and Rural schools.
Conclusion: Cardiovascular risk factors are generally low among
children in this society although certain groups of children have
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increased risk. There is low level of awareness and knowledge of
cardiovascular diseases and their precursors among children.
