• Posted November 11, 2024

Obesity-Linked Heart Deaths Nearly Tripled in U.S. Over Past Two Decades

Lives lost to obesity-related heart disease have nearly tripled over the past twenty years, a new study reports.

Heart disease deaths linked to obesity increased 2.8-fold between 1999 and 2020, according to findings presented today at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Chicago.

The increase occurred especially among middle-aged men, Black adults, Midwesterners and rural residents, researchers found.

“Obesity is a serious risk factor for ischemic heart disease, and this risk is going up at an alarming rate along with the increasing prevalence of obesity,” lead researcher Dr. Aleenah Mohsin, a post-doctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, R.I., said in a news release.

Ischemic heart disease is caused by clogged arteries, researchers said. Less blood and oxygen can reach the heart, increasing the risk of a heart attack.

Obesity contributes to the risk of this form of heart disease by increasing cholesterol levels, promoting high blood pressure, raising the likelihood of type 2 diabetes and causing poor sleep.

“It is important for everyone, particularly people in high-risk groups, to take steps to manage their weight and reduce their risk of heart disease,” Mohsin said. “Lifestyle changes are key, such as eating healthier, exercising regularly and working with health care professionals to monitor heart health.”

For the study, researchers analyzed public health data to review heart disease trends in recent decades. More than 226,000 heart disease deaths related to obesity were documented over 21 years.

The study identified a 5% annual increase in the overall rate of obesity-related heart disease deaths.

The obesity-related heart disease death rate in men overall rose 243%, from 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 to 7.2 per 100,000 in 2020.

Middle-aged men 55 to 64 experienced a 165% increase, from 5.5 deaths per 100,000 in 1999 to 14.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2020.

Among women, the death rate rose 131%, from 1.6 deaths per 100,000 in 1999 to 3.7 per 100,000 in 2020, results show.

To place the findings in context, the largest college football stadiums in the U.S. hold around 100,000 people, researchers noted.

Comparing different racial and ethnic groups, the death rate was highest among Black adults at 3.9 deaths per 100,000.

Rural residents had an obesity-related heart disease death rate of 4 deaths per 100,000 in 2020, compared with 2.9 deaths per 100,000 among urban dwellers, results show.

The highest rates were observed among people in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, with an age-adjusted death rate of 3.3 deaths per 100,000 people.

The Northeast states had the lowest rate at 2.8 deaths per 100,000, results show.

“We did expect an increase in deaths related to obesity since the prevalence of obesity has been rising steadily for years,” Mohsin said. “However, we did not anticipate this magnitude of increase in mortality, especially among middle-aged men.”

“The racial disparities, particularly the higher rates of death among Black individuals, were also striking and suggest that social and perhaps environmental factors may also be playing a significant role,” Mohsin added.

American Heart Association spokeswoman Dr. Sadiya Kahn said that the new study “highlights the importance of obesity as a key risk factor for ischemic heart disease.”

“The relative change in ischemic heart disease deaths related to obesity that was observed in this study between 1999 and 2020 was greater than the overall increase in obesity prevalence that we’ve seen in the United States, from about 30% to about 40% over this same time frame,” Khan, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology and an associate professor of cardiology, medical social sciences and preventive medicine at Northwestern School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release.

“There are a few potential reasons that could be the case,” Khan added. “It may just be that people are more aware of obesity as a risk factor or are more likely to treat obesity, and, therefore, it is more likely to be included on death certificates, which were the basis of these data. The important thing is that we know we need to do more to identify, manage and treat obesity-related risk.”

Because theses findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The National Institute of Health has more on the health risks of obesity.

SOURCE: American Heart Association, news release, Nov. 11, 2024