Impact of Lifestyles of Adolescents and Their Parents on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the lifestyles of adolescents and their parents on the levels of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in the adolescents. Methods: A total of 755 volunteers (331 male, 424 female) aged 15 to 18 years were included. Abdominal obesity, hypertension, elevated triglyceride levels, decreased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels, and hyperglycemia were considered to be CV risk factors. Self-reported lifestyle, including participation in school-based extracurricular (EC) physical activities, time spent on physical activity or watching television (TV), and average daily food intake were assessed. Parental information on weight status and lifestyle was also obtained. Results: Multivariate regression analyses showed that participation in EC physical activities, time spent watching TV, regular breakfast consumption, total energy intake, fiber intake per 1,000 Kcal, and parental BMI were independently associated with the levels of one or more CV risk factors in adolescents. Among these, participation in EC physical activities had a profound effect on adolescent CV risk factor levels. The risk of male adolescent obesity was associated with paternal obesity, but not with maternal obesity. Conversely, the risk of female adolescent obesity was associated with maternal obesity but not with paternal obesity. Conclusions: Participation in EC physical activities may be the first-line approach for adolescents to maintain favorable CV risk factor levels. An association between paternal or maternal obesity and adolescent obesity differs between adolescent genders in Japan; thus, approaches focusing on parents should take the gender of the adolescent into consideration.