Trends in Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Among Iranian Adolescents: The Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, 1999–2008

OBJECTIVES: Data on secular trends in adolescent obesity and dyslipidemia are limited. Data on obesity status collected during 3 surveys were used to evaluate these trends in obesity and dyslipidemia among Tehranian adolescents and to assess the likelihood of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. METHODS: We analyzed data for adolescents (age 10 to 19 years) from 3 cross-sectional surveys of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study: 1999–2001 (n = 3010, 47.2% males), 2002–2005 (n = 1107, 48.4% males), and 2006–2008 (n = 1090, 46.6% males). Overweight and abdominal obesity were defined using Iranian body mass index (BMI) percentiles, International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria, and Iranian waist circumference (WC) charts. Hypertension was defined by using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s recommended cut points, and dyslipidemia was defined according to the recent recommendations of the American Heart Association. RESULTS: The overall adjusted prevalences of “at risk for overweight” and overweight changed from 13% and 8% (using Iranian cutoffs), respectively, and 14.8% and 4.7% (using IOTF criteria) in 1999–2001 to 19% and 15% (Iranian cutoffs) and 23.0% and 9.2% (IOTF criteria) in 2006–2008 (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). The prevalence of abdominal obesity increased in males from 14.5% in 1999–2001 to 33.3% in 2006–2008 (P < 0.001). Almost half the adolescents had low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the 3 surveys. In all surveys, as BMI and WC increased, multivariate age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios of low HDL-C and high triglyceride levels significantly increased. Overweight was associated with a greater likelihood of these risk factors, as compared with increased WC. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and abdominal obesity are increasing in Tehranian adolescents, and these increases are accompanied by abnormalities in levels of serum triglyceride and HDL-C.