Study: 1 in 1900 Has Ideal Heart Health
Wow. A recent, community-based study of 1,933 middle aged/older people (ages 45 – 75) in Allegheny County, PA, found only 1 person who met the American Heart Association’s definition of ideal cardiovascular health.
The Heart Association defines “ideal cardiovascular health” as a combination of 7 factors:
- nonsmoking
- BMI<25
- goal level physical activity
- healthy diet
- untreated cholesterol < 200
- blood pressure < 120/80
- fasting blood sugar < 100
According to the researchers, less than 10% of all participants had 5 or more factors.
According to senior author Dr. Steven Reis…
“Of all the people we assessed, only one out of 1,900 could claim ideal heart health,” said Dr. Reis. “This tells us that the current prevalence of heart health is extremely low, and that we have a great challenge ahead of us to attain the AHA’s aim of a 20 percent improvement in cardiovascular health rates by 2020.”
A “great challenge” indeed. Given the data that Dr. Reis and his team collected, this could be the understatement of the year.
February 27, 2011
Study: 1 in 1900 Has Ideal Heart Health – http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2011/0…
February 28, 2011
That’s almost impossible to believe. Only one person in 1900! The condition of middle aged to older people in America is terrible.
It really is hard to believe we have come to such an unhealthy place in America…..with no end in sight.
February 28, 2011
Yeah – and this is our demographic, too.
While the one person angle is good for shock value, it’s the minority of people at 5+ that’s probably the scarier figure. Thing is, someone could have – say – a BMI > 25 and still be metabolically healthy. And one could still be so if s/he didn’t quite meet the AHA’s definition of a heart-healthy diet. But figures like these imply that most people aren’t even trying, despite the fact that – in this age range – the handwriting is on the wall.