[General risk factors of chronic non-infectious diseases among schoolchildren in Kaunas and Moscow]. / Urovni obshchikh faktorov riska khronicheskikh neinfektsionnykh zabolevanii sredi shkol'nikov v Kaunase i Moskve.

Representative samples of 16-year-old school-children including 126 children from Kaunas and 124 children from Moscow were surveyed by one and the same team consisting of researchers from Kaunas and Moscow. The survey indicated a statistically valid higher level of systolic blood pressure among Kaunas schoolchildren as compared to Moscow schoolchildren of the same age group. Diastolic blood pressure was somewhat higher among Moscow schoolchildren. Moscow schoolchildren smoked statistically valid more often and more intensively. During leisure time boys from Kaunas and girls from Moscow were less physically active. A higher level of arterial blood pressure was found among schoolchildren with high rates of IMT and among non-smoking boys. There was no dependence between the duration of physical activity in leisure time and the level of arterial blood pressure. The established correlations between levels of general risk factors for chronic noninfectious diseases (CNID) among Kaunas and Moscow schoolchildren are important for the evaluation of the effectiveness of CNID integrated prevention programme.

Development of main risk factors of ischaemic heart disease in children and adolescents (eight-year prospective study).

Pupils of Moscow schools with normal and elevated arterial pressure were followed up over a period of 8 years. The study confirmed the existence of the "tracking" phenomenon in blood pressure. When identifying groups of children requiring constant medical control, it is necessary to take into account both the initial level of arterial pressure and the body mass, arterial pressure values at repeated measurement, and the family history. Elevated arterial pressure (greater than or equal to 140/90 mmHg) was present among boys more frequently than among girls (in twenty-years olds the respective proportions were 16.7 vs. 0.8%). Furthermore, a considerable stability of overweight (40-70%), frequent smoking (among twenty-years olds, nearly 60% of boys and 30% of girls are smokers), and low physical activity in nearly half of the investigated children were found. These results confirm the need for early prevention of the development and for control of risk factors of ischaemic heart disease.