Application of Life's Essential 8 to assess cardiovascular health during early childhood.

Abstract

Assess cardiovascular health (CVH) during early childhood using the American Heart Association's recently updated construct, Life's Essential 8 (LE8); examine concordance in CVH status per LE8 versusLife's Simple 7 (LS7); and identify perinatal correlates of high CVH per LE8. We applied LE8 and LS7 to data from 305 children aged 4-7 years in Denver, CO; estimated % low, moderate, high, and optimal CVH; assessed concordance in CVH status based on LE8 and LS7 using contingency tables; and used multivariable logistic regression to identify early-life correlates of high CVH per LE8. Average age of children was 4.7±0.6 years,44.6% were female. No participants had low or optimal CVH,43.9% had high, and 56.1% had moderate CVH per LE8, whereas 33.4% had high and 66.6% had moderate CVH per LS7. Twenty-two percent had high CVH based on both constructs. Correlates of high CVH were maternal prenatal diet quality (odds ratioHealthy Eating Index score>vs. ≤57 =1.90 [1.12, 3.21]) and child age (odds ratioper 1 year =1.58 [1.04. 2.42]). LE8 yielded higher prevalence of high CVH than LS7 during early childhood, though there is modest concordance between the two constructs. Maternal diet is a potential modifiable target to optimize early-life CVH.