More and more Americans are dying of heart disease at younger ages, and conditions are likely to be worse in Oklahoma, according to a new study by the U. Oklahoma College of Public Health.

Christina Shay, assistant professor at OU and lead investigator of the study, looked at health profiles of more than 5,000 children and teenagers, ages 12 to 19, she said. The results indicated that none of them met all the criteria outlined by the American Heart Association for ideal cardiovascular health.

The study looked at whether participants smoked, their body mass indexes, diets, physical activity, total cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, Shay said.

The three most important factors influencing obesity and heart disease in the U.S. are long periods of sedentary behavior, low rates of physical activity and poor diets, Shay said. Smoking and obesity levels contribute to why residents in Oklahoma typically rank below national averages on healthy lifestyle measures.

“Healthy lifestyles and diet both affect blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol,” epidemiology professor Gary E. Raskob said, “Those issues should be dealt with as early as possible to avoid cardiovascular disease and related disease”.

The study also revealed that more females had ideal healthy diet scores, and the percent of overweight or obese participants was nearly the same in males and females, Shay said.

The American Heart Association recommends an hour each day of physical activity for children and a diet rich in fruits and vegetables but low in sugar drinks, OU Health Sciences Center graduate student Yi Xiong said.