Children checked for heart disease risk (USA)

"An elementary school might not seem like the most obvious place to conduct a screening for heart disease. But, according to local statistics, it's not a bad place to start. 'We know we've got a problem,' said Dena Mashburn, coordinator of community services for Mercy Health Partners. Since 2004, Mashburn has overseen an outreach program called CARDIAC Kids, which screens fourth- and fifth-graders around East Tennessee for their risk of heart disease. The CARDIAC program, which stands for Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities, has yielded data that reveal that 43 percent of the children screened have at-risk body weights, 23 percent have high cholesterol, and 10 percent have elevated blood pressure. 'If we look to the future, we've got a whole lot of kids with a lot of health problems,' Mashburn said." - Knoxville News Sentinel