Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in Children and Adolescents

The atherosclerotic alterations that are the basis of cardiovascular diseases can start already in childhood. For this reason the prevention of cardiovascular diseases should be undertaken very early both in the general population and, in a targeted manner, in subjects at cardiovascular risk. Preventive strategies should include measures to encourage physical activity and correct eating habits and to reduce exposure to pollutants. The main actors responsible for carrying out these preventive interventions are the local and national political authorities. Moreover, particular attention should be paid to the first thousand days of life starting from conception, to prevent unfavorable epigenetic modifications. In addition to initiatives aimed at the general population, interventions should be planned by the medical community to assess the individual risk profile. The current obesity epidemic has in fact made it relatively frequent even among children and adolescents to find some cardiovascular risk factors known in adults such as arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, glucose metabolism disorders and increased of uric acid values. The purpose of this review is to indicate lines of intervention for cardiovascular prevention in children and adolescents.