Cardiovascular risk factors of young adults in relation to parental socioeconomic status: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

The socioeconomic status (SES) of the family influences the cardiovascular risk status of children and adolescents; however, it is nor as well known whether parental SES has any effect on the risk factor profile of young adults. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relations of different aspects of parental SES, namely occupation, education, income and living area, to the common cardiovascular risk factors of their offspring (n = 919) aged 18, 21 and 24 years as a part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study in 1986. Subjects from farming families and rural areas had the highest serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values, and the lowest diastolic blood pressure compared with subjects from other occupational groups and subjects from urban regions. The diet of young adults from farming families and from rural areas contained more saturated fatty acids and less monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, the body mass index was lower in subjects from urban regions compared with rural regions, and physical inactivity was less common in the urban group. Subjects with the highest parental occupational status smoked less compared with those with the lowest status. Parental education related inversely to physical inactivity and directly to dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids. The income level of the family associated positively with frequent inebriation by alcoholic beverages and inversely with the percentage of dietary energy from fat. In conclusion, there were modest inverse associations between different indicators of the SES of parents and some of the traditional risk factors of their offspring in young adulthood, which may contribute to the future risk of cardiovascular diseases.