Your weight may be normal, and you may think you’re healthy. But researchers from the University of North Carolina warn that your inner workings may not be in such good shape. And that could increase your risk of heart disease and diabetes…
Blood Pressure is just one of the basic metabolism indicators
that determine whether we’re healthy, overall, or not.
A new study reveals that only one in eight Americans (and, by association, Canadians, I would think) is metabolically healthy. This study presents the most updated U.S. data on metabolic health, which is defined as having optimal levels of five factors: blood glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference, without the need for medications.
What they did…
Researchers examined National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 8,721 people across the United States between 2009 and 2016 to determine how many adults are at low versus high risk for chronic disease.
What they found…
Data revealed that only 12.2 percent of American adults are metabolically healthy, which means that only 27.3 million adults are meeting recommended targets for cardiovascular risk factors management.
Briefly, the data showed that being more physically active, female, younger, more educated and a nonsmoker were factors associated with being more metabolically healthy. Whereas, being non-Hispanic-black or having a higher body mass index meant people were less likely to be metabolically healthy.
What it means…
“The study fills a gap. We wanted to know how many American adults really meet the guidelines for all of the risk factors and are within optimal levels for disease prevention and health,” said the Study’s Lead Author, Joana Araujo. “Based on the data, few Americans are achieving metabolic health, but the most disturbing finding was the complete absence of optimal metabolic health in adults who had obesity, less than a high school education, were not physically active and were current smokers. Our findings should spur renewed attention to population-based interventions and widely accessible strategies to promote healthier lifestyles.”
My take…
Obviously, a healthy, balanced diet is central to metabolic health. We see this again and again when researchers report findings of the causes of widespread conditions, foremost among them, heart disease and type two diabetes. These and other diet/weight related conditions cost us hundreds of billions of dollars annually in health system costs – money which we should be putting into ensuring food security and the promotion of healthy, nutritious food to keep a ballooning world population fed through the middle of this century. (Maybe even paying down government deficits a bit, and ensuring that the growing elderly population is financially able to live the full, independent and healthy lives they deserve.)
It’s up to us all to ensure that we don’t become burdens on the health care system and that we remain in good health, for ourselves and our families.
~ Maggie J.