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Few Americans meet minimum heart health standards

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

With the number of individuals who receive high blood pressure and cholesterol test results shooting through the roof, very few individuals meet the standards of the American Heart Association for ideal cardiovascular health, according to a new study from Pittsburgh University researchers.

In fact, fewer than one out of every 1,900 people in the U.S. meet these guidelines, according to the new investigation.

The researchers said that the American Heart Association has recommended that 20 percent of the population meet these guidelines by 2020. However, given their disturbing results, meeting this challenge could be an uphill battle.

"Of all the people we assessed, only one out of 1,900 could claim ideal heart health," said Dr. Steven Reis, who led the study. "This tells us that the current prevalence of heart health is extremely low, and that we have a great challenge ahead of us to attain the AHA's aim of a 20 percent improvement in cardiovascular health rates by 2020."

He said that policy should be designed to address this growing problem and that they should focus on the individual, the social climate and access to care.