Abstract
The places where a child lives and attends to school are both major environmental and social determinants of its present and future health status. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and some of their risk factors among child and adolescent populations are obesity and dyslipidemia, so finding the patterns of distribution of these risk factors by gender, type of school, area, and margination level is important to do health intervention focusing in their necessities to prevent diseases at younger ages. Because of that, a cross-sectional study was performed among elementary and junior high school students from public and private schools in six of the seven areas of the metropolitan zone of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Biochemical dyslipidemia indicators (triglycerides, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein) and anthropometric data (weight and height) were obtained. Seventeen public schools and five private schools with a total of 383 students were included. More than half of the studied population (53.0%) had elevated triglyceride levels. A total of 330 students (86.2%) had normal levels of total cholesterol with a mean value of 141.7 mg/dl, and 202 schoolchildren (52.8%) had lower than acceptable levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) with a mean value of 43.9 mg/dl. There were differences in the levels of high-density protein between the areas and the type of school where they had been studied. Finally, a total of 150 students (39.4%) had at least one altered lipid value and 103 participants (26.9%) had two altered values. Several students, despite their young age, showed a high prevalence of risk factors, so it is important to design programs according to their necessities.