Nationwide study finds ‘alarmingly low’ healthy heart metrics for Chinese minors
- A nationwide study found that only 1.9 per cent of males and 1.6 per cent of females hit all seven tested metrics for ideal cardiovascular health
- Low physical activity and poor diet were the worst performing lifestyle factors in the study
The majority of China’s youth do not lead lifestyles conducive to having a healthy heart, says a new national report from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Asia.
The study measured seven “ideal metrics” and found that the number of youngsters who met all of the standards was “alarmingly low”.
“The findings among youths would be important for developing cardiovascular health promotion strategies,” said Dr Jing Jin, an author of the study from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
The seven metrics were split into four health behaviours – whether they smoked, their body mass index (BMI), physical activity and diet – and three physical health factors, which were total cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting glucose (blood sugar levels).
The study analysed 15,583 Chinese youth between the ages of 7 and 17, split between 8,004 male subjects and 7,579 females. The scientists believe this is the first major nationwide study analysing the heart health of youngsters in China.
The results found that only 1.9 per cent of males hit all seven health metrics, while only 1.6 per cent of females did so. Over half of the students had at least three healthy physical metrics, but only 3.1 per cent had all four of the healthy lifestyle behaviours.