Lipid profile and its relationship with body mass index in adolescents of the Particular Educational Unit “Universitaria de Azogues”, Ecuador

Abstract

All rights reserved. Introduction: Dyslipidemia and excess weight in adolescents are risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases both in this period and in adulthood. Materials and methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out that included 74 third and fourth year students of the “Private Educational Unit “Universi-tary of Azogues”, to which the body mass index (BMI) was determined from the weight and height, proceeding later to the extraction of a blood sample for the assessment of the lipid profile. Total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (c-HDL) and triglycerides (TG) levels were determined using commercial kits (Spinreact®) and LDL-cholesterol (c-LDL) according to Human Frisonex®. Results: It was evidenced in the analysis that 70.3% of students had normal weight and 29.7% were overweight. 35.1% had CT levels in the limit and 9.5% were high. 51.3% showed TG levels and in 9.5% they were high. 94.6% had acceptable levels of c-HDL and c-LDL. 8.1% of the overweight students had high levels of CT and TG. Conclusions: 29.7% of adolescents were overweight and a significantly higher percentage (8.1%) high levels of CT and TG. The percentages of adolescents with overweight, limit and high levels of CT and TG suggest the need to follow them.