Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is rising in ever younger demographics. According to the comparative study, “Health Across the Life Span in the United States and England” (Melissa Martinson, Ph.D., et al.; Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., 2010), by the age of 19, nearly 5% of female children and nearly 10% of males have high cholesterol, long considered one of the most significant markers of cardiovascular disease risk. For women, those rates double by age 34; for men, they nearly triple in the same time span.
Also by age 34, the percentage of Americans with high C-reactive protein levels, a second important indicator of CVD risk, reaches nearly one in five for men and four in 10 for women. Clearly, establishing heart-friendly habits early on is critical to avoiding the number one killer of Americans later. It is not news that nutrition consistently emerges as a key component of just such a goal.