CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS IN MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND NON-HISPANIC WHITE-CHILDREN - THE CORPUS-CHRISTI CHILD HEART-STUDY

Background Information concerning differences in cardiovascular diseas e risk factors between Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white childre n is limited. We conducted a study to determine if there were ethnic d ifferences in cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and whet her such differences were explained by differences in body mass index. Methods and Results Fasting glucose, insulin, and blood lipid concent rations, blood pressure, weight, and height were measured in a cross-s ectional survey among 403 third-grade children in Corpus Christi, Tex. We found significantly higher fasting insulin and glucose concentrati ons among Mexican-American than among non-Hispanic white children. Mex ican-American boys had slightly lower levels of HDL cholesterol and hi gher systolic blood pressure than non-Hispanic white boys. Ethnic diff erences in insulin and glucose were not explained by body mass index. Conclusions These results provide preliminary evidence that ethnic dif ferences in insulin, glucose, body mass index, and other risk factors occur as early as age 8 to 10 years: Additional research is warranted on differences in risk factors in Mexican-American and non-Hispanic wh ite children and the potential importance of insulin in influencing th e natural history of these characteristics.