[Food consumption frequency in schoolaged adolescents and its cardiovascular risk association].

Background: Childhood and adolescence are the life stages where eating habits related to the development of cardiovascular risk factors are usually established.

Objective: To classify cardiovascular risk in school adolescents from Villavicencio (Colombia) and, additionally, to estimate its association with food intake frequency according to food kind.

Methodology: This is an analytical cross-sectional study developed in 1,504 adolescents of 13 to 17 years of age schooling in Villavicencio. We evaluated the cardiovascular risk according to the model proposed by Rodríguez-Soriano and Sanjurjo, and the food intake frequency with a structured survey. We used a binomial regression model to estimate the relationship between cardiovascular risk and food intake frequency.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 14.9 ± 0,07 years; 61.9% were women, and 80.6% came from schools located in urban areas. According to the cardiovascular risk classification, 34.5% of adolescents had a high cardiovascular risk, while 25.4% had intermediate risk. Men and those who consume more than two sugary drinks per day are those who presented a higher percentage of high cardiovascular risk (48.6% and 36.9%, respectively). Regression models showed that consumption of more than one sugary drink per day was associated with high levels of cardiovascular risk in adolescents (OR 1.27 95%CI 1.04-1.55).

Conclusion: A high proportion of adolescents have medium and high cardiovascular risk; additionally, the consumption ofsugary drinks showed its association with cardiovascular risk.