Researchers find only 2.7% of Americans have a 'healthy' lifestyle
But to find that only 2.7% of Americans are able to eat well, exercise often, avoid smoking, and maintain healthy amounts of body fat - as researchers from Oregon State University did in a new study - is more than a little troubling.
"I was very surprised," Ellen Smit, nutritional epidemiologist and the study's senior author, tells Tech Insider. "We double, triple-checked our numbers to make sure this was an accurate reflection."
Today, more than a third of US adults are obese and two-thirds are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is despite the fact the country is eating healthier and smoking less than it ever has. It also doesn't help that recent research suggests exercise alone won't necessarily help people lose weight - other healthy behaviors must be done at the same time.
Hoping to offer a clear picture of health, Smit and her team analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It was carried out between 2003-2006 and included 4,745 people, all of whom were put through a raft of physical examinations.
As part of the NHANES, subjects were given accelerometers to track their activity levels on a weekly basis; had their blood drawn to measure things like their risk for diabetes, heart disease, and whether they smoked; and had their body fat percentages measured with DEXA scans, a common way of measuring body fat that uses x-rays.
Additionally, a diet was considered "healthy" if it fell within the top 40% of scores on the USDA's Healthy Eating Index, which tracks conformance to the agency's standards for healthy eating.
Smit and her team focused on four measures of health in particular: body fat percentage, activity levels, smoking status, and diet. "We figured all these are such common lifestyle factors," she says.
When they looked at how many people had healthy levels of all four, the proportion was shockingly low: only 2.7% of the entire sample. They also found that about 16% met three of the criteria, 37% met two, 34% met one, and 11% met none at all.
Looking at individual biomarkers, like a person's cholesterol level, they found removing each additional factor increased a person's risk for disease. "We were able to see if a person who did three or four of these healthy lifestyle factors had better biomarkers than a person who did zero or one, for example," she says.
While the findings may be shocking, they're not necessarily all bad. For instance, Smit's study found 29% of people in the sample smoked, while the national smoking rate today is 16.8% and falling. A 2014 study conducted by the USDA found people were eating healthier, too.
But there are plenty of big problems.
In Smit's study, 46% of people met the benchmark of 150 minutes per week of moderate to intense physical activity. Today, the CDC finds that just 20% of people hit that mark. And while they may be eating healthier in general, they're not eating strictly "healthy."
"Weight has climbed, so too has consumption of ultra-processed foods and dollars spent on food purchased outside of the home," says Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa.
The remedy is simple and straightforward: Americans should eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts; cut back on red meat; and consume little, if any, processed sugars and refined grains. They should also exercise more and avoid smoking.
Smit still recommends talking to your doctor to determine the changes that are right for you.
"Ideally, we want everyone to adopt four lifestyle factors," she says. "But if they're not going to, then pick the one that is the most important for your particular health issue."