Metabolic syndrome and atherogenic indices in school children: A worrying panorama in Brazil.

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is defined as the combination of a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors. The use of cardiovascular indices such as the ratios TC/HDL-c, LDL-c/HDL-c and TG/HDL-c may help in the assessment of cardiovascular risk. Investigation of cardio-metabolic risks in the pre-adolescent stage is essential to characterize possible patterns for MS in the earliest stages of the life avoiding further irreversible consequences.

Eating habits and presence of cardiovascular risks in children.

Introduction: The changes in the eating habits associated with physical inactivity are directly related to the increase in the prevalence of obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the frequency of consumption of some food groups (snacks, fruits, vegetables and candies), physical exercise, nutritional classification and biochemical profile in children.

Methods: After the approval of the Ethics Committee, we studied 882 schoolchildren ranging between 6 and 10 years of age.