Heart disease skyrockets as obesity affects more Americans from 1999 to 2020

© American Heart Association

Heart disease deaths related to obesity are skyrocketing across the nation, according to a new study by the American Heart Association (AHA).

Middle-aged men, Black adults, and residents of the Midwest and rural areas showed the highest rates of increased risk from 1999 to 2020, according to preliminary figures that will be presented at AHA’s scientific sessions Nov. 16 to 18 in Chicago.

In simplest terms: More obesity is leading to more heart disease and more deaths, according to AHA. The condition contributes to elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and sleep disorders, while being an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

“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,” study lead author Aleenah Mohsin, MD, MBBS, said in a news release. Mohsin is a post-doctoral research fellow at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Among the solutions: “Lifestyle changes are key, such as eating healthier, exercising regularly and working with health care professionals to monitor heart health,” Mohsin said.

The data come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiological Research (CDC WONDER) database from 1999 to 2020. The database logged226,267 ischemic heart disease obesity-related deaths were documented over the 21 years. Death rates were adjusted for age to limit bias of age as a factor in the death rates because people are more likely to die as they get older.

• Men fared worst. The death rate jumped 243%, from 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999 to 7.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020. For men aged 55 to 64 years, the death rate spiked 165%, from 5.5 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 14.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2020.

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

• For women, deaths rose 131%, from 1.6 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 3.7 per 100,000 in 2020. Black adults had the highest death rate at 3.93 per 100,000 people. In 2020, deaths per 100,000 people reached 4.0 for adults in nonmetropolitan areas, more than 2.9 per 100,000 people for those in urban areas. For context, AHA noted the largest college football stadiums in the nation can fit an estimated 100,000 people.

“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 said.

• States in the Midwest had the highest death rate at 3.3 per 100,000, compared with 2.8 per 100,000 for the Northeast. Vermont was an exception in the Northeast, with 10.4 deaths per 100,000, while Alabama had the lowest rate at 1.5 deaths per 100,000 people, according to AHA.

“In addition, the fact that Vermont, a state not typically associated with high obesity rates, had the highest death rate for obesity-related CVD death was unexpected and warrants further investigation, as does the finding that Alabama had the lowest death rate for obesity-related CVD deaths,” Mohsin said.