Objective: To assess risk of cardiovascular diseases among school children of age group 10-18 years from urban, semi-urban, and rural settings of Telangana.

Methods: An observational cohort study carried out during September and October 2012 enrolled school children of urban, semi-urban, and rural areas in Telangana. School children of age 10-18 years were included in the study. Of 562 subjects, 172, 208, and 182 were from rural, semi-urban, and urban areas, respectively. Nutritional status, lipid profile, insulin levels, vitamin D levels, and thyroid levels were the main outcome measures.

Result: Total cholesterol level and low-density lipoprotein in children of rural area was significantly higher than those of semi-urban and urban areas. Mean total cholesterol in rural children was 132.12 mg/dl, in semi-urban was 110.50 mg/dl, and in urban was 122.62 mg/dl (p < 0.001). Likewise, mean low-density lipoprotein in rural, semi-urban, and urban children was 70.52 mg/dl, 54.05 mg/dl, and 59.54 mg/dl, respectively. Fasting plasma insulin levels of children of all areas were high. There was vitamin D deficiency among school children in rural and semi-urban area.

Conclusion: The prevalence of these risk factors, their progression, and disease manifestation among rural population is hardly studied. Thus, initiatives must be taken to address populationspecific needs early in life to combat these risk factors transforming into disease giants.