Key result
Unfavorable lifestyle clustering places ~21% of Mediterranean adolescents at high cardiovascular risk.
Why the study?
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of global death and stem partly from uncontrolled modifiable lifestyle risk factors, prompting the need to analyze adolescent risk factor profiles across Mediterranean countries.
Cross-Sectional (n=26,110)
Yes
A significant proportion of Mediterranean adolescents exhibit multiple clustered cardiovascular risk factors, highlighting the need for early targeted preventive interventions.
Risk clustering in Mediterranean adolescents supports targeted prevention research; leaves open intervention efficacy pending longitudinal data.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally and are partially due to the inability to control modifiable lifestyle risk factors. The aim of this study was to analyze the profiles of adolescents from seven Mediterranean countries (Greece, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Spain) according to their modifiable lifestyle risk factors for CVD (overweight/obesity, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption). The sample consisted of 26,110 adolescents (52.3% girls) aged 11, 13, and 15 years who participated in the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in 2018 across the seven countries. Sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, country of residence, socioeconomic status) and CVD modifiable lifestyle risk factors (overweight/obesity, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption) were recorded. A two-step cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and chi-square test were performed. Four different cluster groups were identified: two low-risk groups (64.46%), with risk among those with low physical activity levels; moderate-risk group (14.83%), with two risk factors (unhealthy weight and low physical activity level); and a high-risk group (20.7%), which presented risk in all modifiable lifestyle risk factors. Older adolescents reported a higher likelihood of being in the high-risk group. Given that the adolescence period constitutes an important time for interventions aimed at CVD prevention, identifying profiles of moderate- and high-risk adolescents is crucial.
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Tesler et al. (2022) conducted a cross-sectional in Adolescents (general population) (n=26,110). Modifiable lifestyle risk factors (overweight/obesity, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption) was evaluated on Cardiovascular risk profile clusters. Four cardiovascular risk clusters were identified among Mediterranean adolescents, with 20.7% falling into a high-risk group presenting unfavorable behaviors in all evaluated modifiable risk factors.
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