There has been a three-fold increase in obesity-related deaths from heart disease in the U.S. between 1999 and 2020, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers analyzed race, gender, and urban versus rural settings to determine differences in heart disease deaths in which obesity was listed as a contributing factor. Among the findings:
Obesity-related cardiovascular disease deaths were higher among Black individuals compared with any other, at 6.7 per 100,000 population; followed by American Indian adults or Alaska Native adults at 3.8 per 100,000. "The trend of higher obesity-related cardiovascular death rates for Black women than men was striking and different from all other racial groups considered in our study," said senior author Mamas A. Mamas, M.D., D.Phil. professor of Cardiovascular Medicine from Keele University in Keele, United Kingdom.