ABC | Volume 110, Nº3, March 2018

Original Article Sports Practices and Cardiovascular Risk in Teenagers Carlos Scherr, Leonardo Corrêa Castro Fabiano, Renata Leborato Guerra, Luciano Herman Juacaba Belém, Ana Carolina Gurgel Câmara, Adriana Campos Fundação Pró Coração - Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil Mailing Address: Carlos Scherr • Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 595 Sl. 1204. Postal Code 22410-003, Ipanema, RJ – Brazil E-mail: cscherr@cardiol.br , scherr@all.com.br Manuscript received April 25, 2017, revised manuscript September 21, 2017, accepted October 06, 2017 DOI: 10.5935/abc.20180024 Abstract Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of deaths in the world, and many events could be prevented by healthy life habits. Objectives: To compare the occurrence of cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents enrolled at public schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro, including a renowned school for sport practices. Methods: Cross-sectional study, convenience sampling of 422 students enrolled at the Experimental Olympic Gymnasium (EOG) and at Figueiredo Pimentel School (FP). Using descriptive analyses, continuous variables were expressed as mean and standard deviation or median and interquartile ranges, and the Student’s t-test or the chi-square test, respectively, was used for comparisons. The sports were classified according to the metabolic equivalent of task (MET) (below or above 5). Results: We included 274 students enrolled at the EOG and 148 at FP. Mean age was similar between schools –12.5 ± 1.6 years at FP and 12.6 ± 0.9 at the EOG; 65.5% of the students at FP and 43.8% of the students at the EOG were female (p < 0.01). Significant differences in the prevalence of hypertension (20% vs. 6.3%, p < 0.01) and borderline cholesterol levels (27.7% vs. 17.3%, p = 0.01) were found between FP and EOG students, respectively. Conclusion: High prevalence of hypertension, overweight/obesity and altered blood lipid profile was found in this group of adolescents. Regular sports training program combined with little influence of their eating habits outside school may contribute to a better metabolic profile and reduction in cardiovascular risk factors in students. Public health measures are also need. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2018; 110(3):248-255) Keywords: Cardiovascular Diseases / mortality; Risk Factors; Adolescent; Obesity; Hypertension; Exercise; Preventive Health Services. Introduction Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. 1 It was estimated that 17.5 million people died for cardiovascular diseases in 2012, accounting for 31% of global deaths. More than three-fourths of these deaths were registered in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, 37% of deaths by non-communicable diseases in individuals younger than 70 years are caused by cardiovascular diseases, 3.2 million of them attributed to a sedentary lifestyle. 1 The majority of cardiovascular diseases may be prevented by strategies aimed at controlling behavioral risk factors, including smoking, unhealthy eating habits and alcohol abuse. 1 Eating and physical exercise habits acquired during childhood and teenage years may be reflected in adulthood, since evidence indicates that atherosclerosis begins in the first years of life and slowly progresses to adulthood. 2 In an autopsy study of 100 young individuals who had died from causes unrelated to the cardiovascular system, intimal proliferations were observed in 95.3% of the coronary arterial segments in those aged between one and five years. 3 In addition, aortic atherosclerosis and lesions in the target organs may be found in hypertensive children. 4 Studies involving children and adolescents have shown that disturbances of blood pressure and other morphological risk indicators, such as distribution of body fat, may begin during adolescence. 5 Eating habits and the routine of exercises of the adolescents, developed as they become independent, may potentiate or negatively affect their lifestyle and health in adult age. 6 It is worth pointing out that childhood is the ideal time to stimulate the practice of regular physical exercise, as this increases the likelihood that this practice will be maintained in adult life. Therefore, the adoption of measures aimed at early prevention of cardiovascular risk factors may enable the primary prevention of heart diseases. 7 In 2012, the public school network of Rio de Janeiro started a project aimed at integrating academic and sports education – the Experimental Olympics Gymnasium (EOG) – a full-time school focused on sports. Students from the sixth to the ninth grade of elementary school practiced sports for 2 hours, 5 times a week. The exercise program was adequate to each age range group, and followed a long-term athletic development model, 8 which may contribute to the prevention of future cardiovascular diseases. 248