Health & Medicine
80 Percent of American Teenagers on the Way to Heart Disease, Less than One Percent of Kids have Healthy Diet
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Apr 05, 2013 04:03 PM EDT
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. However, statistics show that today's youth are on a deadly trend-nearly 80 percent of teenagers are eating their way to deadly health issues, and that includes atherosclerosis, hypertension, obesity diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) often refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, including cardiac, vascular and peripheral arterial disease, the three types of cardiovascular disease.
Atherosclerosis (thickening of the arteries typically from accumulated cholesterol) and hypertension (high blood pressure) are the most common causes.
The research, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, was performed to assess the status of cardiovascular health in US adolescents. Christina Shay, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, led the study.
Researchers examined data from 4,673 teenagers between 12 to 1, which represents a demographic sampling of 33.2 million U.S. adolescents. The sample group had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010.
The survey asked questions regarding diet and exercise habits, and subjects were also asked to provide blood samples.
Results from the American Heart Association showed that cardiovascular health was ultimately defined by health behaviors and factors, including smoking, body mass index (BMI), dietary intake, physical activity, blood pressure, blood glucose and total cholesterol.
Only about one percent of American teens had healthy diets, and only 44 percent of females and 67 percent of males engaged in regular exercise. The survey showed that 13 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls were sedentary.
Nearly a third of subjects had prematurely poor cholesterol levels and poor BMIs. The analysis addressed substantial evidence that atherosclerosis has origins in childhood cross-referencing autopsy findings reported more than a century ago. The reports identified fatty streaks in the large arteries of children as young as 6 years of age.
Teenagers should reassess their activity and especially their diets as the current habits could lead to chronic, but preventable illnesses in adulthood.
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First Posted: Apr 05, 2013 04:03 PM EDT
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States. However, statistics show that today's youth are on a deadly trend-nearly 80 percent of teenagers are eating their way to deadly health issues, and that includes atherosclerosis, hypertension, obesity diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) often refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system, including cardiac, vascular and peripheral arterial disease, the three types of cardiovascular disease.
Atherosclerosis (thickening of the arteries typically from accumulated cholesterol) and hypertension (high blood pressure) are the most common causes.
The research, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, was performed to assess the status of cardiovascular health in US adolescents. Christina Shay, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, led the study.
Researchers examined data from 4,673 teenagers between 12 to 1, which represents a demographic sampling of 33.2 million U.S. adolescents. The sample group had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010.
The survey asked questions regarding diet and exercise habits, and subjects were also asked to provide blood samples.
Results from the American Heart Association showed that cardiovascular health was ultimately defined by health behaviors and factors, including smoking, body mass index (BMI), dietary intake, physical activity, blood pressure, blood glucose and total cholesterol.
Only about one percent of American teens had healthy diets, and only 44 percent of females and 67 percent of males engaged in regular exercise. The survey showed that 13 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls were sedentary.
Nearly a third of subjects had prematurely poor cholesterol levels and poor BMIs. The analysis addressed substantial evidence that atherosclerosis has origins in childhood cross-referencing autopsy findings reported more than a century ago. The reports identified fatty streaks in the large arteries of children as young as 6 years of age.
Teenagers should reassess their activity and especially their diets as the current habits could lead to chronic, but preventable illnesses in adulthood.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone