In the study presented at the AAC Virtual Meeting, Nishant Vatsa, MD, from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and colleagues evaluated age at diagnosis of obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia among African American women participating in a community screening program (2015-2018). The study stems from the Emory Women's Heart Center 10,000 Women Hypertension project, which offers free cardiovascular (CV) risk screenings with a focus on African American women. The evaluation grouped women into 20-year age cohorts (20-39 years: 217 women; 40-59 years: 469 women; and >60 years: 259 women).

Dr. Vatsa noted, "Young people should be the healthiest members of our population with normal body weight and normal blood pressure. We're finding obesity and elevated blood pressure are present in women even at younger ages, which is worrisome. Thus, interventions like educating young women about healthy dietary choices and the benefits of exercise, improving access to health care and enhancing the ability for people to adopt healthy practices—such as increasing access to healthy foods and safe areas for physical activity—needs to start early."  

The researchers observed that average body mass index was greatest in the middle-age group. Systolic blood pressure increased with cohort age (20-39 years: 122 mmHg; 40-59 years: 132.7 mm Hg; >60 years: 141.8 mmHg), as did cholesterol (20-39 years: 173 mg/dL; 40-59 years: 194.1 mg/dL; >60 years: 196.8 mg/dL). However, low-density lipoprotein levels were greater in younger African American women (age 20-39 years: 87.9 mg/dL; 40-59 years: 66.7 mg/dL; >60 years: 70.7 mg/dL). More older African American women reported restricting salt intake and ate fast food fewer than three times a week compared with younger African American women. While not a substantial variation, more older African American women exercised >30 minutes at least three times a week (20-39 years: 6.5%; 40-59 years: 8.2%; >60 years: 13.4%). Smoking rates were comparable across the age groups.

Dr. Vatsa indicated that based on the findings, there should be a call for augmented attention among clinicians and the public-health community to aid young African American women in maintaining their weight and blood pressure within a healthier range through lifestyle modifications and medications, when warranted.

Additionally, Dr. Vatsa said, "Diet and exercise play a major role in blood pressure and weight. Primary care providers, prevention-based clinics and community organizations can facilitate interventions proven to mitigate these risk factors. Providers that treat young African American women need to be mindful of cardiovascular preventive care and be armed with resources and education."

Dr. Vatsa also noted that the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately affected African Americans and other minority communities, has revealed and intensified the barriers African American women face in gaining access to preventive healthcare. "Heightened awareness to decreasing barriers in health care and to the adoption of a heart-healthy lifestyle can enhance health in the near term and reduce the burden of heart disease for decades to come." 

Finally, the researchers noted that while they believe the observed trends are likely reflective of the larger population of African American women, they plan to compare their results with studies from other regions of the U.S. and other racial and ethnic groups for added insights.

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