Current state of unhealthy living characteristics in White, African American and Latinx populations

Jonathan Myers; Matthew P Harber; Lakeisha Johnson; Ross Arena; Leonard A Kaminsky

doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2022.05.002

Current state of unhealthy living characteristics in White, African American and Latinx populations

Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2022 Mar-Apr:71:20-26. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2022.05.002. Epub 2022 May 17.

Authors

Jonathan Myers¹, Matthew P Harber², Lakeisha Johnson³, Ross Arena⁴, Leonard A Kaminsky⁵

Affiliations

¹ Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA; Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL - PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: drj993@aol.com.
² Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL - PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA; Clinical Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
³ Clinical Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA; Fisher Institute of Health and Well-Being, College of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.
⁴ Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL - PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁵ Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL - PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA; Fisher Institute of Health and Well-Being, College of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.

PMID: 35594981
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcad.2022.05.002

Abstract

The United States (US) is similar to most industrialized countries in that it falls short on many of the basic metrics related to cardiovascular and overall health. These metrics include nutritional patterns, levels of physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and prevalence of overweight and obesity. These issues are even more apparent in underserved communities, among whom unhealthy living characteristics cluster and contribute to a disproportionate chronic disease burden. The reasons for these inequities are complex and include social and economic factors as well as reduced access to health care. CRF has been demonstrated to be a critically important risk factor that tends to be lower in disadvantaged groups. In this article we discuss the current state of health & lifestyle characteristics in the US, the impact of social inequality on health, and the particular role that CRF and PA patterns play in the current state of unhealthy living characteristics as they relate to underserved populations.

Keywords: Cardiorespiratory fitness; Physical activity; Underserved populations.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Black or African American*
Cardiorespiratory Fitness*
Exercise
Humans
Obesity / diagnosis
Obesity / epidemiology
Risk Factors
United States / epidemiology