Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Nursing Practice: Focus on Children and Youth

C ardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and premature mortality in women and men in the United States, most of the industrialized world, and many developing countries. 1 Data accumulated over the past 3 decades indicate that atherosclerotic-CVD processes begin early in childhood and are influenced over the life course by genetic and potentially modifiable risk factors and environmental exposures. Taken together, these data provide compelling evidence for primary prevention of CVD beginning early in childhood. Within the pediatric healthcare community, this evidence has prompted and informed the development of science-based guidelines with recommendations for individual/high-risk and population-based approaches to primary prevention of CVD in children and youth. The purpose of this statement is to provide an overview of the evidence and current science-based recommendations and to emphasize the role of advanced practice nurses in the implementation of strategies consistent with population-based and individual/high-risk approaches to CVD prevention in children and youth.