Using the American Heart Association’s new Life’s Essential 8 checklist, the researchers found that only 19.6 percent of the country has a cardiovascular health score that the checklist considers “high.” Meanwhile, a study of more than 23,400 adults and children in the United States found that 62.5 percent have only “moderate” cardiovascular health and 17.9 percent have “low” cardiovascular health.
How does the checklist measure heart health?
Life’s Essential 8 examines eight key ingredients that combine to provide ideal heart and brain health. Measures include diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep duration, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose and blood pressure. The new scale is an upgrade from the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7, which did not measure sleep health. Using a scale from 0 to 100, a score of 100 means one has the highest or healthiest cardiovascular health score. Scores below 50 fall into the “low” range of cardiovascular health, while scores between 50 and 79 indicate “moderate” heart health. Anything over 80 indicates “high” cardiovascular health. According to the new study, less than 20 percent of Americans reached this healthy standard. “These data represent the first look at the cardiovascular health of the U.S. population using AHA’s new Life’s Essential 8 scoring algorithm,” said lead author Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, President of the American Society of Cardiology, in a press release. . “Overall, the cardiovascular health of the US population is not optimal and we see significant differences between age and socio-demographic groups. “Analyzes like this can help policymakers, communities, clinicians and the public understand the opportunities for intervention to improve and maintain optimal cardiovascular health throughout life.” The findings come from health information from U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys completed between 2013 and 2018. The study included approximately 9,900 children under the age of 19.
Americans are stuck in the 60’s
Overall, the average American adult scored only 64.7 on the Life’s Essential 8 checklist. Children scored 65.5 out of 100. For children, the checklist adjusted the scores to match age-related differences in diet. , physical activity and BMI. Women scored slightly higher (67) than adult men (62.5), with both groups scoring lower in nutrition, physical activity and BMI. In general, the scores also dropped lower as the adults got older. Examining the differences between the country’s racial and ethnic groups, the study found that Asian Americans have the best average cardiovascular health score. Non-Hispanic Whites had the second highest health score, followed by Spaniards (excluding Mexicans), Mexicans, and Non-Hispanic Blacks. Worryingly, the children’s nutrition scores averaged just 40.6 and a minimum of 0.45 percent of the entire study group scored a perfect 100. The findings are published in the journal Circulation, the leading journal of the American Heart Association.
