Abstract
Background: The growing epidemic of obesity in the United States (US) is associated with cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. We evaluated the impact of the increasing obesity prevalence on the CV health of young American adults. Methods: The age-adjusted weighted prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia was estimated from the 2008-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in American adults aged 18-44 years, stratified by the presence of obesity. The trends were evaluated using a piecewise linear regression approach. The odds for CV risk factors were estimated using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models. Results: Among 14,919 young adults, the prevalence of obesity was 33.9% (95% CI: 32.6-35.3%). Obese young adults were more likely to be non-Hispanic Blacks and in lower socioeconomic and educational attainment strata (p<0.05 for all). Obese young adults had a greater risk of having hypertension (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 3.0 [95% CI: 2.7-3.4]), diabetes (aOR: 4.3 [95% CI: 3.3-5.6]), and hyperlipidemia (aOR: 1.47 [95% CI: 1.3-1.7]). Among obese, hypertension increased from 36.5% (33.9-39.1%) in 2007-2010 to 39.4% (35.6-43.1%) in 2015-2018 (p= 0.07) and diabetes increased from 4.7% (3.6-5.8%) in 2007-2010 to 7.1% (5.3-9.0%) in 2015-2018 (p=0.11). A modest increase in diabetes was seen in non-obese individuals ( Table ). Hypercholesterolemia prevalence remained unchanged from 12.6% (95% CI: 10.6-14.7%) 2007-2010 to 10.9% (95% CI: 9.0-12.8%) in 2015-2018 (p=0.27) among obese young adults. Non-obese young adults showed a decline in hypercholesterolemia from 9.5% (95% CI: 8.0-11.0%) in 2007- 2010 to 7.1% (95% CI: 5.8-8.4%) in 2015-2018 (p=0.002). Conclusions: Nearly one-in-every three young American adults have obesity, which is accompanied by a two-fold higher prevalence of CV risk factors. The CV morbidity in young adults is expected to increase with an increasing prevalence of obesity..
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