Few Adolescents Meet Cardiovascular Health Standards
Many adolescents in the United States fall short of the American Heart Association’s standards for cardiovascular health, a new study found, suggesting a possible increase in the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and dysglycemia in the future.
Christina M. Shay, PhD, MA of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, and colleagues, found that less than 50% of 4673 children between the ages of 12 years and 19 years who participated in the 2005–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys scored “ideal” in 5 or more of the 7 categories used to judge cardiovascular health.
To score ideal, participants must have (1) never smoked, (2) BMI, (3) total cholesterol, (4) blood pressure, and (5) fasting blood glucose within a healthy range, as well as (6) a healthy diet (7) and level of exercise.
Of the participants, 0% scored ideal in all 7 categories. Daily physical activity and dietary intake represented the lowest scoring categories.
“These findings indicate that the prevalence of ideal levels of the cardiovascular health components among adolescents is alarmingly low and the prevalence of poor and intermediate cardiovascular health behaviors and factors in this age group is disconcertingly high,” they concluded.
“The absence of ideal levels of cardiovascular health behaviors and factors in adolescence represents the loss of a tremendous health asset that may contribute to unacceptably high rates of adult-onset CVD as the current US adolescent population reaches adulthood.”
–Michael Potts
Reference
Shay CM, Ning H, Daniels SR, Rooks CR, Gidding SS, Lloyd-Jones DM. Prevalence estimates from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 2005–2010 [published online ahead of print April 1, 2013]. Circulation. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.001559.