Kerala - Kochi   

When children took charge of parents’ health

KOCHI: A survey conducted by ninth standard students among their parents found that 71.1 per cent of their fathers have at least one of the six high risk factors causing heart disease.

Among mothers, the figure was 64.9 per cent. The survey results were announced at a meeting held here on Saturday on the eve of World Heart Day. V.R. Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court judge, was the chief guest at the meeting.

About 1,800 ninth standard students from 20 schools in the city turned surveyors in their own houses under a community-based health awareness programme organised by the Medical Trust Hospital with the support of schools. As such, the father-mother duo in the age group of 30 and 40 years made up the sample group of 3,600.

The survey was organised in connection with World Heart Day, which is observed on September 28 every year. In keeping with this year’s theme “know your risk,” the survey was based on the topic “prevalence of cardiac risk factors among parents.”

Questions were framed around six risk factors – high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, and stress – causing heart disease.

The first part of the questionnaire posed seven questions to evaluate the awareness of parents about the risk factors. The other half was an assessment of parents by their children based on interaction and the response to the questions.

While 28.9 per cent of the fathers were found free of all six high risk factors, 14.8 per cent were found to be suffering from more than three. Among mothers it was 35.1 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.

Children found that while 93.2 per cent of the fathers were aware of the role of smoking in causing heart disease, at least 23.6 per cent still persisted with the habit. According to the children’s assessment, 11.4 per cent of their parents suffered from high blood pressure (14.1 per cent fathers and 8.7 per cent mothers), 11.65 per cent have diabetes (15.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent), and 28 per cent suffered from stress (33 per cent and 23 per cent).

In terms of obesity and lack of exercise mothers were ahead with 15.7 per cent and 46 per cent compared with 12.6 per cent and 38 per cent among fathers. Only 33.1 per cent of fathers had any kind of medical check-up during the past one year.

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