Cardiovascular disease(CVD) has been identified as the one killer of deaths. Investigation have indicated that the build-up of atherosclerotic deposits begins by the 3 to 5 month of age and increases during the first 20 years. Hence, CVD is a pediatric problem diet should be addressed in the schools.
The goal of the Needs Survey is to investigate by questionnaire the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of high school
students about CVD and to elicit information pertaining to personal life styles associated with obesity, smoking,
exercise, dietary habits and alcohol. There were 566 subjects(255 boys and 311 girls) in the study. The major findings of the study were as follows:
1. There was an association among high school students’ cardiovascular health knowledge, cardiovascular health attitude, and cardiovascular health practices.
2. The result of cardiovascular health knowledge revealed that the mean scores of boys(2.38) were lower than the girls(2.71) and the smokers are lower than the non-smokers.
3. The total scores of cardiovascular health attitudes were 58.48 evaluated as cardiovascular positive expression. There were statistically significant differences between smoking and sex.
4. As to cardiovascular health practice, blood pressure tests revealed that 68.2% of boys and 31.8% of girls had never had a blood pressure check.
5. The survey results showed that there were different responds in physical activity for at, least 20 minutes per week and in smoking behavior.
6. The greater chest pain and alcohol behavior in terms of frequency were, the more they smoked. 7. Smoking behavior of friends impacted on student´s smoking behavior.
8. Physical activity of friends impacted on student´s physical activity.
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