Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the Early Adolescent Period

The purpose of this study is to describe patterns and relationships among the modifiable cardiovascular risk factors of smoking behavior, overweight, physical inactivity and poor dietary behaviors within a ninth grade population. Four modifiable cardiovascular risk factors; smoking behavior, overweight, physical inactivity and poor dietary behavior were analyzed from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS) to explore associations in early adolescents, a critical developmental time frame. The specific aims of this study were to: 1) conduct a factor analysis of questions selected from the 2003 YRBS to represent the constructs of smoking behavior, physical inactivity and poor dietary behaviors; 2) to describe the modifiable risk factors of the targeted variables; 3) to examine relationships among the risk behavior factors of smoking behavior, overweight, physical inactivity and poor dietary behavior for the total sample; and 4) to examine relationships among the risk factors for subgroups identified by race and gender.Specific items were identified from the 2003 YRBS that represented modifiable cardiovascular risk factors. For specific aim 1, factor analysis was performed on the targeted variables. Analysis of specific aim 2 was conducted using descriptive statistics for each of the factors identified in Specific Aim 1, and the additional risk factor of overweight. Specific aim 3 was analyzed using a Pearson r correlational model for relationships among the risk behavior factors of smoking behavior, physical inactivity and poor dietary behaviors. Logistic regression was used to explore relationships of factors with overweight. Specific aim 4 was analyzed using logistic regression and Pearson r correlation for relationships among the identified risk behavior factors within demographic subgroups. While each of the four behavioral cardiovascular risk factors were present only physical inactivity, poor dietary behavior, and overweight were common factors that emerged in the final conceptual model. Findings demonstrated that gender was not associated with being overweight, but race did contribute significantly to the logistic regression model with overweight as a dependent variable. It is suggested that future directions be aimed at enhancing physical activity, improving dietary behavior, and preventing overweight for students in the 9th grade