0000000000343430
AUTHOR
Leena Räsänen
Cohort profile: the cardiovascular risk in Young Finns Study.
In Finland, coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence was very high in the 1960s and 1970s. In line with this high incidence, the Seven Countries Study showed that the level of serum cholesterol in Finns was also the highest among the investigated countries in the 1960s. Because several studies indicated that the atherosclerotic process starts early in life, and in accord with the World Health Organization Recommendation of 1978 which stated that studies assessing atherosclerosis precursors in children should be initiated, a program was launched in Finland in the late 1970s to study cardiovascular risk in the youth. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study was designed as a collaborative e…
Childhood Environmental and Genetic Predictors of Adulthood Obesity: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study
Obesity from childhood to adulthood is associated with adverse health later in life. Increased youth BMI is a risk factor for later obesity, but it is unknown whether identification of other risk factors, including recently discovered genetic markers, would help to identify children at risk of developing adult obesity.Our objective was to examine the childhood environmental and genetic predictors of adult obesity.We followed 2119 individuals of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study for up to 27 yr since baseline (1980, age 3-18 yr).We evaluated adult obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m(2)].The independent predictors (P0.05) of adult obesity included childhood BMI, C-reactive pro…
Life-time risk factors and progression of carotid atherosclerosis in young adults: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study.
Aims The aim of this study is to evaluate whether childhood risk factors are associated with a 6-year change in carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young adulthood independent of the current risk factors. Methods and results The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns cohort consisted of 1809 subjects who were followed-up for 27 years since baseline (1980, age 3–18 years) and having carotid IMT measured both in 2001 and 2007. Cardiovascular risk factors were assessed repeatedly since childhood. A genotype risk score was calculated using 17 newly identified genetic variants associating with cardiovascular morbidity. The number of childhood risk factors (high LDL-cholesterol, low HDL-cholester…
Effects of persistent physical activity and inactivity on coronary risk factors in children and young adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
The tracking of physical activity and its influence on selected coronary heart disease risk factors were studied in a 6-year (original survey in 1980, with follow-ups in 1983 and 1986) study of Finnish adolescents and young adults as part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The subjects in this analysis were aged 12, 15, and 18 years at baseline. Physical activity was assessed with a standardized questionnaire, and a sum index was derived from the product of intensity, frequency, and duration of leisure time physical activity. Complete data on physical activity index from each study year were available on 961 participants. Significant tracking of physical activity was observed …
Social Class and Changes in Health-Related Habits in Finland in 1973–1983
The aim of this project was to study social class differences with respect to various health-related habits and especially to note the changes in these habits after a 10-year follow-up period. From this study conclusions can be drawn as to whether health education efforts and increased interest in personal health has been more widely adopted by the more educated groups than the less educated groups, whose morbidity and mortality rates are higher. The sample consisted of 902 white-collar and blue-collar workers. Smoking was found to be more common among blue-collar workers in both years. Smoking rates had declined in all groups except female blue-collar workers. Occasions of drinking were m…
Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns
This report describes the general outline and progress of a multicentre study on risk factors of coronary heart disease and their determinants in children and adolescents. "Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns" comprises a cross-sectional study of 3 to 18-year old subjects in 1980, and follow-up studies in 1983 and 1986 in various parts of Finland, and in 1989 in one of the study areas (Turku). The number of participants in 1980 was 3596 (83.1%) of those invited. In 1983 and 1986 83.2% and 77.8% of them, respectively, participated. The study programme has comprised questionnaire data on, for example, general health and living conditions, physical activity, eating habits, smoking, and psycholo…