Promotion of Cardiovascular Health in Preschool Children: 36-Month Cohort Follow-up

作者：Cespedes Jaime; Briceno German; Farkouh Michael E; Vedanthan Rajesh; Baxter Jorge; Leal Martha; Boffetta Paolo; Hunn Marilyn; Dennis Rodolfo; Fuster Valentin^*

来源：American Journal of Medicine, 2013, 126(12): 1122-1126.

DOI：10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.06.021

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
• Global health
• Health education
• Noncommunicable disease (NCD)
• Preschool children

BACKGROUND: Educational interventions in preschool children could improve dietary behavior and physical activity, and prevent unhealthy body weights in low-and middle-income countries. Previously, we have reported the beneficial impact of an educational intervention in preschoolers in a 6-month trial. We now report extended results after 36 months. %26lt;br%26gt;METHODS: Evaluating the cohort of previously intervened children, baseline measurements were made in May 2009 in 14 preschool facilities in Usaquen (Bogota, Colombia). Follow-up measurements were performed at 18 and 36 months. The primary outcome was the mean change in children%26apos;s knowledge and attitudes scores regarding healthy eating and living an active lifestyle, including habits scores related to physical activity. Secondary outcomes were the change over time of children%26apos;s nutritional status and the mean change in parent%26apos;s knowledge, attitudes, and habits. %26lt;br%26gt;RESULTS: We included 1216 children, 3-5 years of age, and 928 parents. After adjusting by sex and age of children, socioeconomic status, age of parents, and age and education level of teachers, we found a significant increase in mean knowledge, attitudes, and habits scores at 36 months, compared with baseline: 87.94 vs 76.15 (P%26lt;.001); 86.39 vs 57.03 (P%26lt;.001); and 66.29 vs 48.72 (P%26lt;.001), respectively. We observed a similar increase in knowledge and attitude scores in parents: 73.45 vs 70.01 (P%26lt;.001); and 78.08 vs 74.65 (P%26lt;.001). The proportion of eutrophic children increased from 62.1% at baseline to 75.0% at 36 months (P%26lt;.0001). %26lt;br%26gt;CONCLUSIONS: After 36 months, the educational intervention maintained a beneficial trend toward a healthy lifestyle in children and their parents.

• 出版日期2013-12