National Journal of Research in Community Medicine. Vol. 3. Issue 2. Apr-Jun. 2014 (178-185) 178 NJRCM- ISSN - Print: 2277 – 1522, Online: 2277 - 3517 Introduction Globally, chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Among NCDs, Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the single largest killer and is a major public health problem. In the year 2008, NCDs contributed 63% of the 57 million global deaths; CVDs accounted for 17 million of those deaths (48% of the NCDs) 1 . In India, NCDs accounted for 53% of all deaths in the year 2005 while CVDs contributed 29% of these deaths 2 . Lifestyle habits such as smoking, dietary habits and physical activity are formed during childhood, which have a profound impact on later life of the individual. It has also been found that atherosclerotic and hypertensive disease process starts early in life 3 . Therefore, it has been postulated that intervention strategies must begin early in childhood to control the current epidemic of CVDs. The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes school health programmes as a strategic means to prevent important health risks among youth and to engage the education sector in the efforts to change the educational, social, economic and political conditions that affect risk 4 . Original Research Article Prevalence of Cardiovascular risk factors among children in a rural school in Bangalore district, India Shailendra Kumar B. Hegde 1 , Farah Naaz Fathima 2 , Twinkle Agrawal 2 , Deepthi N Shanbhag 2 , Pretesh R Kiran 2 , Arvind Kasthuri 3 Date of Submission: 31.03.2014 Date of Acceptance: 29.05.2014 Abstract Background: Globally, Chronic non-communicable diseases are the leading causes of mortality globally. Among them, Cardiovascular disease is the single largest killer. Lifestyle habits formed during childhood have a profound impact on cardiovascular risk in later life. Objective: To assess the prevalence of risk factors for CVDs among children in a rural school. Methods: Design: Cross-sectional. Area: one school in a rural area, Anekal taluk, Bangalore. Population: All children studying in the 8 th std were included in the study. Children absent on the day of our visit and those who did not give consent or assent were excluded from the study. Tool: A questionnaire was developed for the purpose of this study using the WHO STEPS questionnaire as the base. Data collected were analysed and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Of the 283 children, 52.6% were girls and 47.3% were boys with a mean age of 12.9 yrs. A majority (58.3%) of the study population used extra salt in the diet while 50.9% did not consume adequate quantities of fruits and vegetables daily. A majority (60%) was involved in high physical activity. A higher proportion of boys (74.6%) were involved in high intensity physical activity as compared to girls (46.9%) but a higher proportion of boys (64.2%) also followed sedentary lifestyle as compared to girls (47.7%). A mere 2.5% of the children gave a history of tobacco use while 1.1% gave a history of alcohol use. Passive smoking was seen among 40.6% of the children. The prevalence of pre-hypertension was found to be 4.9% and that of hypertension was 5%. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors among rural school children which needs to be addressed if we intend to prevent the epidemic of cardiovascular diseases in India. Key Words: Risk factors, Cardiovascular, school, children Authors:1-Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine,SRM Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, 2- Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health,St. Johns’ Medical College, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, arjapura Road, Koramangala, Bangalore – 560034,3- Professor and Head, Department of Community Health,St. Johns’ Medical College, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Sarjapura Road, Koramangala, Bangalore – 560034. Email: Hegde.shailendra@gmail.com