POOR FITNESS IN YOUNG ADULTS ASSOCIATED WITH LATER CARDIOVASCULAR PROBLEMS

A new study indicates that poor fitness in young adults is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors later in life.

Mercedes R. Carnethon, PhD, of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues investigated whether low fitness was associated with the development of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and whether improving fitness was associated with risk reduction.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) account for a large proportion of deaths in people over the age of 45. "Numerous risk factors for CVD, including hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, are suspected to be influence by fitness, and these factors may mediate the association between low fitness and mortality," the authors said in the study published in the December 17, 2003, issue of the Journal of American Medical Association.

The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study recruited 5,115 participants from four geographic areas. "Our findings demonstrate the importance of low cardiorespiratory fitness in young adulthood s a risk factor for developing cardiovascular related illnesses in middle age," the authors say in the study.

Given the current obesity epidemic and observations of decline in daily energy expenditure in the population. The study's authors conclude that improving cardiorespiratory fitness in young men and women and developing public health policies that encourage physical activity should be important health policy goals.

Adapted from: FDA Consumer; 38(1); January-Febuary 2004; p.7.

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