[Pattern of the distribution of total cholesterol and cHDL cholesterol Spanish children and adolescents: RICARDIN Study]. / Patrón de la distribución de colesterol total y cHDL en niños y adolescentes españoles: estudio RICARDIN.

BACKGROUND: The RICARDIN Study multicenter study of cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents has described the standards of normality of blood cholesterol levels in the Spanish school population. The objective of the present study was to compare mean values of cholesterol between different regions of Spain, and to compare the global mean with a pool international study. Also, the pattern of total cholesterol and cHDL by age and sex using mathematical model is described, and comparison with two international studies carried out in USA and Japan is performed. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 10,683 children aged 6 to 18 were selected from 7 different Spanish provinces (Madrid, Vizcaya, Lugo, Badajoz, Murcia, Asturias and Barcelona). Blood samples were obtained by capilar puncture (Reflotron). RESULTS: Mean values of total cholesterol was different among provinces, and globally, were lower than the international pooled population, although the pattern observed in each population was very similar. Total cholesterol curve for Spanish boys showed a curvilinear trend that can be estimated through a cubic function that explains 89% of observed data, while for girls the best estimate was obtained through an inverse function (R2 = 0.40). cHDL for boys showed a cubic function as the best estimate (R2 = 0.90), while for girls the best estimate was obtained through a quadratic function (R2 = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: There are important physiological variations of total cholesterol level by age and sex in children and adolescents. The pattern of cholesterol does not follow a linear model but a curvilinear one, that need to be considered in clinically assessing individual determinations of cholesterol, since highest percentiles can vary by age and sex.

[Relation between arterial pressure and variability in the development of 2300 children of both sexes]. / Relación entre la tensión arterial y la variabilidad en el desarrollo en 2,300 niños de ambos sexos.

Object of this study is to analyse relationship between blood pressure and a set of somathologic variables, including skinfold thickness and stages of sexual development (Tanner's standards), in three different ontogenetic phases. 1,200 boys and 1,100 girls from elementary statal schools of Alcalá de Henares have been studied. Age groups, 6.5, 10.5 and 13.5 years, are the starting point for a semi-longitudinal study of three years. In the two younger groups, blood pressure variables show direct positive association with general development variables, and specially with stages of sexual maturation. In the oldest boys group (13.5 years), this association is lower, and disappears in girls with have reached menarche at this age.