Children Point to Parents’ Heart Risk

New research conducted at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has found screening children for cardiovascular disease associated risk factors could help identify if their parents are at risk for the condition. The screening could also lay the groundwork for medical intervention in both children and their parents for such diseases.

94 families covering 108 parents and 141 children were covered under the study which was conducted on a community-based sample. The researchers found strong links between children and parents for cardiovascular factors including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol.

Led by Evelyn Cohen Reis, MD, a pediatrician and researcher in the Division of General Academic Pediatrics at Children’s, the research team found if children have hypertension, risk of their parents having hypertension increases by nearly 15 times as compared to parents of children without the condition.

Parents who have obese children are six times more likely to be obese than parents who have non-obese children. Similarly parents who have children with elevated triglycerides are at five time higher risk of having hypertriglyceridemia than parents of children with normal triglyceride levels.

According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 910,000 people die from cardiovascular diseases in the U.S. alone, making it the leading cause of death. Presence of risk factors like hypertension, obesity and metabolic abnormalities further increases the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.

According to Dr. Reis, the obesity epidemic currently sweeping across the US is closely associated with the increasing prevalence of these risk factors. “Because children access primary care more frequently than adults, screening them for cardiovascular disease risk factors can also help identify parents who are at risk,” said Dr. Reis, who is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

“Given the long lead time between the detection of risk factors and the onset of disease, universal screening of children would provide ample opportunity for intervention in children and their parents. The interventions could range from diet and exercise to medical treatment,” she said.

The research findings are published online in the December issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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