Researchers have discovered a catastrophic health crisis that requires urgent action. Less than 7% of the US adult population has good cardiac metabolic health.
Researchers at Tufts University have found that most US adults have low ratings for five components of heart and metabolic health, with clear racial disparities.
Scientists have discovered a catastrophic health crisis that requires urgent action. Less than 7% of the US adult population has good cardiac metabolic health. This is a pioneering study of heart metabolism health trends and inequality, led by a team at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science Policy, and will be published in the July 12 issue. Journal of American College of Cardiology.. Their research team also included scientists from the Tufts Medical Center.
“These numbers are stunning. In the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, having less than one in fifteen adults in optimal cardiac metabolic health is a serious problem. . “— — Meghan O’Hearn
In this study, researchers evaluated Americans across five health factors: blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity (overweight and obesity), and the presence or absence of cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, etc.). As of 2017-2018, only 6.8% of adults in the United States had optimal levels for all five ingredients. Of these five factors, the trends from 1999 to 2018 were also significantly worse for blood glucose and obesity. In 1999, one in three adults was at optimal levels for obesity (no overweight or obesity), but by 2018 that number had dropped to one in four. In 2018, less than 40% of adults were released from these conditions.
“These numbers are stunning. In the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is serious that less than 1 in 15 adults are in optimal cardiometabolic health. It’s a problem, “said Meghan O’Hearn, PhD candidate at Friedman School and lead author of the study. “This is a crisis for everyone, not just some of the population, so a complete overhaul of the healthcare system, food system, and built environment is needed.”
The survey examined a nationally representative sample of approximately 55,000 people over the age of 20 from 1999 to 2018 from the latest 10 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Researchers focused not only on the presence or absence of illness, but also on the health of cardiac metabolism and its components at optimal, moderate, and poor levels. “Illness isn’t the only problem, so we need to change the conversation,” O’Hearn said. “We don’t just want to be free from illness. We want to achieve optimal health and well-being.”
The team also identified large health inequalities among people of different genders, ages, races, ethnicities and levels of education. For example, uneducated adults are half as likely to have optimal cardiac metabolic health as educated adults, and Mexican-Americans are compared to non-Hispanic Caucasian adults. It was one-third of the optimal level. In addition, between 1999 and 2018, the proportion of adults with good cardiac metabolism increased moderately among non-Hispanic Caucasians, but Mexican-Americans, other Hispanics, It decreased in non-Hispanic blacks and adults of other races.
“We don’t just want to be free from illness. We want to achieve optimal health and well-being.” — Meghan O’Hearn
“This is really a problem. Due to social determinants of health such as food and nutrition safety, social and community conditions, economic stability and structural racial discrimination, different levels of education, race and ethnicity. Individuals are at increased risk of health problems, “said Darish Mosafarian, Dean of Friedman. School and senior author. “This highlights other important work being done at Friedman School and Tufts University to better understand and address the root causes of malnutrition and health inequalities in the United States and around the world. “
The study also evaluated “moderate” health levels (not optimal but not yet poor), including conditions such as prediabetes, prehypertension, and overweight. “Most of the population is at a critical inflection,” O’Hearn said. “Identifying these individuals and addressing their health and lifestyle early is important to reduce the increasing health burden and health injustice.”
The consequences of the dire health of adults in the United States go beyond personal health. “It has a huge impact on national health care costs and the financial position of the economy as a whole,” O’Hearn said. “And these conditions are largely preventable. We have public health and clinical interventions and policies to help address these issues.”
Researchers at Friedman School are actively working on many such solutions, O’Hearn said. Incentives and grants to make health foods more affordable. Consumer education on healthy eating. Private sector involvement in promoting a healthier and more equitable food system. “There are many ways to do this,” O’Hearn said. “We need a multi-sectoral approach, and we need the political will and aspirations to carry it out.”
“This is the health crisis we have been facing for some time,” O’Hearn said. “Now there are increasing economic, social and ethical demands to draw more attention to this issue.”
See also: Meghan O’Hearn MS, Brianna N. Lauren MS, John B.Wong MD, David D. Kim PhD, Dariush MozaffarianMD, DrPH, July 4, 2022, “Trends and Disparities in Cardiac Metabolic Health in U.S. Adults,” 1999-2018 “, Journal of American College of Cardiology..
DOI: 10.1016 / j.jacc.2022.04.046
Funding: NIH / National Institute of Cardiopulmonary Blood
