Asian Cohort Studies on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Childhood

Abstract

Long-term cohort studies have shown that cardiovascular risk factors measured during childhood were associated with levels of adult cardiovascular risk factors and also with the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, most of the epidemiologic evidence was from Western studies and relatively small in the Asian population. From the literature, we identified and reviewed 8 Asian cohort studies focusing on cardiovascular risk factors among children. The Asian cohort studies have confirmed that childhood risk factors can predict later levels of adult risk factors. Besides, it has been shown that childhood risk factors are associated with intermediate phenotypes, such as metabolic disturbance and degenerative vascular changes, in adulthood. These findings reaffirmed the importance of screening and managing cardiovascular risk factors from early life in Asia. However, there is little evidence on CVD incidence and mortality because there is no Asian cohort study, which observed from childhood until middle-aged or old ages. Longer follow-up data are required to measure the impact of childhood cardiovascular risk factors, especially since obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors are increasing in Asian children and adolescents.