BETHLEHEM, Pa. — One in six people in the United States will develop some type of cardiovascular disease over the next few decades if eating habits do not change, the American Heart Association says.
Now health experts are looking at the link between food and heart health and how to bring healthier options to all American tables.
A new report from the American Heart Association shows the high cost and lacking access of nutritious food could lead to a cardiovascular disease crisis.
The U.S. Health and the Future of Food report was conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of Research!America and the American Heart Association.
It included a poll of public attitudes on food and nutrition.
“The results show significant differences in how historically underrepresented groups rank the barriers to healthy eating,” said Mary Woolley.
Woolley serves as the chief executive officer of Research!America, a nonprofit medical and research advocacy alliance.
The results
“Nearly 7 in 10 Asian American [66%] and Hispanic [68%] respondents said the cost of healthy food was their biggest barrier to healthy eating," Wooley said at the report findings event Monday.
"Black respondents were more likely to cite gaps in knowledge about healthy food [38%] and difficulty accessing stores that carry a selection of nutrient-dense foods [25%] as barriers to healthy eating."
Wooley said 7 in 10 people who responded to the poll saw healthy eating habits as an important factor in improving a person’s chance for a long and healthy life.
However, around half of those people felt the country is not making enough progress for nutritious food to be more accessible and affordable.
100 years of service
The details of the study come on the same day the American Heart Association marked a century of service.
"The trends are ominous."Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association
“Efforts led by the American Heart Association have cut death rates from heart disease by half in the past 100 years, but as we look to our second century of existence, the trends are ominous,” said American Heart Association Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brown.
“We are committed to averting a crisis of unparalleled health and economic burdens due to cardiovascular disease and obesity in the coming decades.”
Medical experts and those involved with conducting the poll pointed out what they called “urgent challenges to creating a food system that effectively integrates nutritious food into health care for the prevention, treatment and care of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.”
The U.S. Health and the Future of Food report identified food and nutrition insecurity, ultra-processed foods and the lack of resilient and adaptive food and agricultural systems as major contributors to poor diets.
“Healthy, nutritious food not only leads to better overall health — it can be a critical tool to treat, manage and prevent chronic disease,” said Dr. Kevin Volpp, scientific lead for the American Health Association’s food is medicine initiative Health Care by Food.
Volpp also is founding director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School.
Call to action
“Cross-sector collaboration and research-backed innovation in public and private sector programs are needed to stem the combined tidal wave of obesity and nutrition insecurity threatening the health of millions of people in the U.S. now and for decades to come,” Volpp said.
The Heart Association’s Health Care by Food initiative funds research, advocacy and education to find cost-effective food is medicine approaches for the nation’s health care system.
That new initiative aims to help “fundamentally shape public health guidelines related to nutrition and obesity.”
The report calls for medical professionals, policy makers and others involved in getting healthier foods into the hands of the American people to make changes before a cardiovascular disease crisis is upon us.
Read more about the report finding the American Heart Association website.
