Sedentary life, high phone use bad for kids' hearts: Study

Hubballi: Sedentary lifestyle caused by excess use of mobile phones could be the leading cause of heart attacks among children, according to a new study that advocates for early screening to detect health problems and prevent later cardiovascular complications.

The study was conducted by the Multi-disciplinary Research Unit (MRU) of Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMCRI), Hubballi, on 30 asymptomatic, overweight students from Classes 8 and 9 from six rural and urban schools of Dharwad district. 

Researchers found that nearly 26 students had a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to their lack of physical activities, which was compounded by usage of mobile phones for over one hour per day. 

“The sample size may be small; however, this is an indicator of the bigger issue of alarming prevalence of subclinical cardiac risk among adolescents” said Dr Ram S Kaulgud, principal investigator of the clinical trials at the MRU. 

Dr Ram said they chose students who were slightly obese after getting parental consent and assent from children.

Children’s blood samples were collected along with certain background details such as medical history, physical activities, time spent on mobile, cardio issues in the family.

“We found that one among those students was diabetic, four were diagnosed with hypertension, five students with elevated total cholesterol, 11 students with triglyceride and other five students with elevated LDL cholesterol,” said Dr Ram. “We also recorded that 26 of the 30 students had homocysteine, indicating a strong predisposition to vascular risk.”

When checked for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, it showed that 85% of the participants had biochemical profiles indicative of increased risk for adverse cardiac events, he added.

Dr Ram said only two of the 10 students tested showed abnormalities in 2 specific genes, which are indicators of pro-inflammatory state and increased cardiovascular disease risk, while the remaining had acquired these conditions due to lifestyle.

“Students who said they use mobile phones for a longer period of time over physical activities had a higher risk of cardiac adversaries,” he said, adding that eating junk and unhealthy foods was also triggering such events.

Greater data collection

Dr Manjunath Nekar of the Community Medicine department and a co-researcher batted for early screening. “If we start screening students at the age of 15-16, we will be able to prevent heart-related deaths at the age of 30-plus,” he said.

To collect more data, MRUs at the institutes of medical sciences in Mandya, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Hassan and Shivamogga have agreed to be part of a larger study. “Based on our findings, we can recommend the government to take up routine cardiac risk screenings at schools. ICMR has also expressed their willingness to conduct similar studies across India,” said Dr Manjunath.

Both Ram and Manjunath suggest that schools along with their regular medical check-up of height, weight and dental, should also include lipid profiling, diabetics, and hypertension.

The study has been presented to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which has appreciated it.

Highlights

Concerning 30 asymptomatic, overweight students from Classes 8 and 9 from schools of Dharwad district selected for study  Researchers found that 26 students had a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to lack of physical activities The risk factor was compounded by usage of mobile phones for over one hour per day  Researchers suggest schools, along with their regular medical check-up, should also check lipid profiling, diabetics and hypertension

Quote

"If we start screening students at the age of 15-16 we will be able to prevent heart-related deaths at the age of 30-plus" - Dr Manjunath Nekar co-researcher