title: Status of cardiovascular health in US children up to 11 years of age: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2003-2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The American Heart Association recently defined cardiovascular health (CVH) to monitor it over time for all Americans. Nationally representative prevalence estimates for children under 12 years according to sex and race/ethnicity have not been reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study sample comprised 8961 children aged 2 to 11 years from 2003 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. National prevalence of ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH as defined by American Heart Association was estimated for each of 4 available metrics (body mass index [BMI], healthy diet score, total cholesterol, and blood pressure). No children had ideal levels for either zero or all 4 metrics. Ideal healthy diet score was least prevalent, ranging from 0 to 0.1%, whereas ideal blood pressure was most prevalent ranging from 88% to 93% across sex, race/ethnicity groups. Ideal BMI was less frequent at ages 6 to 11 years than at ages 2 to 5 years (67% versus 77%). Approximately 40% of children had intermediate or poor total cholesterol levels. The dietary intake of diet score components was associated with BMI, which was associated with blood pressure and total cholesterol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ideal CVH status for BMI, total cholesterol, and blood pressure was prevalent in young children, whereas ideal diet was rare. Diet and BMI were important components to achieve ideal CVH metrics in children. Limited availability of data for all CVH metrics is a major obstacle for CVH assessment in the youngest age groups and represents an important missed opportunity for surveillance and secular trends analyses with aging.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Darwin R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Labarthe
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Shay
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Lifang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.).
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Horn
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (H.N., D.R.L., L.H., L.V.H., D.M.L.-J.); Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (C.M.S.); and Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Aurora (S.R.D.). dlj@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Donald M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lloyd-Jones
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: children; epidemiology