Cardiovascular health awareness and the effect of an educational intervention on school-aged children in a rural district of India

Background and objectives: India is the second most populous country in the world and two-thirds of its population is less than 35 years old. This survey was conducted to assess the level of health awareness of cardiovascular disease in adolescent school-aged children 14–16 years old, with the goal of establishing school-based health education and development of heart-healthy lifestyle practices. Methods: A school-based survey was conducted in the rural district of West Midnapore, India between June and July of 2014. This involved a pre-evaluation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) health awareness, a short presentation on CVD, and a post-evaluation of CVD health awareness. Results: A total of 2995 students (48% response rate) from 20 schools participated in the survey. The mean age of the students in the study sample was 14.7 years, 46% were male, 53% were in the 9th grade, and the rest were in the 10th grade. After assessing students’ awareness in six domains with 20 multiple-choice questions with a maximum score of 100, the mean pre-test score was 41.1 (SD ± 10.5) and the mean post-test score was 48.1 (SD ± 16.9) (p