Knowledge and perceptions of children and adolescents about cardiovascular risk factors and the role of the family

Objective: The process of atherosclerosis begins in childhood with children being exposed to certainrisk factors such as excessive body weight. The aim of this study was to highlight the knowledge and perceptions from the childhood and the adolescence (4-18 years) that enhance risk factors and lead to the occurrence of the cardiovascular disease and the role of family in these.

Design: A systematic review was carried out with articles published from 2005 to 2021 on PubMed database. The search was carried out with keywords such as «knowledge», «perceptions», «beliefs», «cardiovascular diseases», «family», «children», «adolescents» and focused on children and adolescents. Results: Children and adolescents do not have the necessary knowledge about the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, so they adopt wrong behaviors and increase the probabilities of developing them in their adult life. The role of parents is also important, who through the adoption of specific behaviors such as choosing healthy foods, encouraging physical activity, act as inhibitors in the early occurrence of cardiovascular events.

Conclusions: It is very important to develop the right role models from preschool age. This is why health literacy needs to be especially developed, both within the family, but especially in the school environment.