Only 0.4% of Iranian adults had an ideal healthy diet and 13.3% had ideal physical activity, despite high ideal levels in smoking, cholesterol, and glucose.
Iranian adults show favorable cardiovascular health metrics for smoking, cholesterol, and glucose, but severe deficiencies in diet and physical activity, highlighting specific targets for public health interventions.
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Objective To assess cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) tool as a comprehensive measure of several metabolic and behavioural risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Design Cross-sectional study, nationally representative Iran STEPwise approach to non-communicable diseases risk factor surveillance (STEPS) survey 2021. Setting Iran, 2020–2021. Participants 25 202 adult individuals aged 25 years and older participated in the STEPS survey. Outcome measures Using the LS7 framework, seven factors were assessed: current smoking, body mass index (BMI), physical activity level, modified healthy diet score components, total cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Each factor was categorised into three levels of poor, intermediate and ideal, according to the LS7 methodology. Results The study participants had a sex distribution of 55.5% females. The findings revealed a high prevalence of ideal levels of smoking (80.1%; 95% CI 79.3 to 81.0), total cholesterol (69.4%; 95% CI 68.5 to 70.4) and FPG (61.0%; 95% CI 60.0 to 62.1). BMI and blood pressure were ideal in about one-third of the population (33.0%; 95% CI 32.1 to 34.0, and 30.5%; 95% CI 29.6 to 31.4, respectively). However, only 13.3% (95% CI 12.6 to 14.0) of participants achieved ideal levels of physical activity, and a mere 0.4% (95% CI 0.3 to 0.6) adhered to an ideal healthy diet. Modest disparities in CVH metrics were observed across provinces and between two sexes. Ideal CVH status was significantly associated with lower risks of major diseases such as ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Conclusions Despite favourable scores in some CVH metrics, critical gaps in diet and physical activity highlight the need for intensive public health efforts to enhance CVH in Iran. The study emphasises the urgency of implementing region- and sex-specific public health policies.
Azadnajafabad et al. (Sun,) reported a other. Only 0.4% of Iranian adults had an ideal healthy diet and 13.3% had ideal physical activity, despite high ideal levels in smoking, cholesterol, and glucose.