Lifestyle Risk Factors, Cardiometabolic Diseases Prevalent in Young Adults

THURSDAY, Aug. 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. young adults have a high prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases, with varying rates based on race and ethnicity, according to a study published online Aug. 23 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Shuxiao Shi, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases among adults aged 18 to 44 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011 to 2018. The age-standardized prevalence of lifestyle risk factors and cardiometabolic diseases was estimated overall and by demographic and social risk factors.

Data were included for 10,405 participants (median age, 30.3 years). The researchers found that the prevalence of lifestyle factors varied from 16.3 to 49.3 percent for excessive drinking and poor diet quality, respectively. Cardiometabolic disease prevalence varied from 4.3 percent for diabetes to 37.3 percent for dyslipidemia. The prevalence of having two or more lifestyle risk factors and two or more cardiometabolic diseases was 45.2 and 22.0 percent, respectively. After adjustment for social risk factors and lifestyle factors, racial and ethnic disparities in many cardiometabolic diseases persisted but were attenuated.

"Given that cardiometabolic diseases are largely preventable and lifestyle behaviors are theoretically modifiable, devising effective and targeted interventions to improve cardiometabolic health in young adults would deliver long-term health benefits," coauthor Nannan Feng, Ph.D., also of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said in a statement.

Abstract/Full Text