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The relationship between serum lipids and nutrition, physical activity and body mass index were studies with a multifactorial analysis of variance in a group of 160 adolescents of both sexes (Table I). These relationships are complex and difficult to demonstrate; they give rise, however, to certain considerations of presumptive characteristics possibly linked with adolescence.

In a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of the precursors of cardiovascular risk factors, 8-9- and 14-15-year-old boys and girls of Italian and Swiss origin were studied. Each of the 8 groups comprised about 100 participants chosen at random. In total 387 Italian and 410 Swiss participants of comparable socio-economic origin, and residing in Geneva, were studied under standardized conditions. The anthropometric measurements, the determinations of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the lipoprotein lipids of both ethnic groups are presented and discussed in detail. The blood pressure values show only slight differences between the two ethnic groups, especially in the higher percentiles; significant differences exist, however, between the various anthropometric characteristics, some lipoprotein lipid measurements and sexual maturity. The blood pressure values are clearly correlated with body mass index, sexual maturity, anthropomorphic measurements, and heart rate. The results of the Geneva survey compare well with the reported results of other international studies.