Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Key Cardiometabolic Measures Amplified by New Research

Optimal levels of cardimetabolic health (CMH) were found half as likely among adults with less education than with more education and Mexican Americans had about one-third the optimal levels of 5 primary components of CMH compared wtih non-Hispanic White Americans.

These data, shared with Patient Care^® by Meghan O'Hearn, MS, are among the many findings from her recent study that reinforce the association between social determinants of health and in this research 5 key components of cardiometabolic health: adiposity, lipid levels, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.

In this last of 3 conversations about the review of NHANES data from 1999-2018 led by O'Hearn with colleagues from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, she discusses disparities in optimal CMH and what is needed at the primary care level and beyond to stem declines.

Part 1: US Cardiometabolic Health at Alarming Suboptimal Levels, Says Lead Author of New NHANES Analysis

Part 2: Intermediate Cardiometabolic Risk: Study Author Explains this "Critical Inflection Point"

Meghan O’Hearn, MS, is a doctoral student at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University under the mentorship of Dariush Mozaffarian, MD. O'Hearn's research focus incudes understanding the use of dietary quality metrics to monitor global diet-related disease burdens as well as how research can collaborate with the food industry to address the growing double burden of malnutrition globally.

Reference: O'Hearn M, Lauren BN, Wong JB, Kim DD, Mozzafarian D. Trends and disparities in cardiometabolic health among US adults, 1999-2018. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022. Published online ahead of print July 4, 2022. https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.04.046