Dietary intake as a cardiovascular risk factor in Costa Rican adolescents

Purpose: To evaluate Costa Rican adolescents' dietary intake as a cardiovas cular disease (CVD) risk factor. Methods: Dietary intake was determined using 9-day food records; nutrient c ontent of fast foods prepared in school cafeteria was calculated by the wei ghted records. Results: Around 30% of adolescents exceed the American Heart Association di etary recommendation for total fat and saturated fat. About 50% reported a cholesterol intake higher than 100 mg/1000 kcal. On average, 45% of adolesc ents do not meet the dietary fiber recommendation of 10 g/1000 kcal, the 66 % of the recommended daily allowance for vitamins E and B-6, or around 25% for folic acid. A higher proportion of urban adolescents do not satisfy the established dietary recommendation to prevent CVD. Conclusions: To avoid further increases in the Costa Rican CVD mortality ra te, it is necessary to develop primary prevention programs, oriented to mod ify adolescent's nutrition habits. Schools have the potential to carry out such programs, as at least 60% of all adolescents in Costa Rica are enrolle d in high schools. (C) Society fop Adolescent Medicine, 2001.