US Cardiometabolic Health in Steady Decline, Racial/Ethnic Minorities at High Risk

Less than 7% of the US population, 1 in 15 American adults, has what can be considered "optimal" cardiometabolic health, according to new research published by investigators at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

A comparison of NHANES data from the survey's 10 most recent cycles, the study evaluated 5 components of cardiometabolic health (CMH)--adiposity, blood glucose, serum lipids, blood pressure, and cardiovascuar disease--together as a composite measure of overall CMH and separately, comparing measures between 1999-2000 and 2017-2018.

“In 2017-2018, only 6.8% American adults had good cardiometabolic health — a decline from 7.7%, an already concerningly low figure, in 1999-2000 — with disparities by age, sex, education level and race and ethnicity,”