Kashish Sharma
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Written By: Kashish Sharma | Published : January 13, 2023 10:52 PM IST
The researchers also learned that the discrimination and other social hardships that youth of colour might face shall be contributing to the elevated risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases.
Our mind affects our physical health and otherwise. A new study has shown that teenagers who are optimistic, and happy, and have high self-esteem and healthy feelings of belongingness are more likely to have good cardiometabolic health in their 20s and 30s. The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The findings of the study suggested that fostering a positive psychological mindset in teenagers can prevent them from cardiometabolic diseases in adulthood.
The researchers also learned that the discrimination and other social hardships that youth of colour might face shall be contributing to the elevated risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases. The common factors that determine cardiometabolic health are body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol value, triglyceride values and lifestyle habits such as smoking and others.
The study focused on earlier in life and not primarily looking at older adults and considered a broad spectrum of cardiometabolic health factors, which also included indicators like blood sugar levels and inflammation. The study examined data recorded by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which had around 3,500 U.S. high schoolers (average age 16 years) in 1994 and was followed closely for more than two decades. Among the examined participants, half were girls, 67% were white youth, 15% were Black teens, 11% were Latino teenagers and 6% were either Native American, Asian, or others. The most recent wave of data collection occurred in 2018 when the average age was 38.
Researchers had identified five mental health assets needed for better cardiometabolic health, optimism, happiness, self-esteem, a sense of belonging and feeling loved. Among the cardiometabolic factors taken under consideration were good cholesterol (HDL), bad cholesterol (LDL), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, haemoglobin A1c, blood sugar, C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation and body mass index or BMI.
The results of the study showed that 55% of youth had zero to one positive mental health asset, while 29% had two to three assets and 16% had four to five assets. The study found that teens having four to five mental health assets were 69% more likely to maintain positive cardiometabolic health as young adults.
Another interesting finding of the study was that among Black teens who were having nearly all psychological assets, they were the least likely to maintain good cardiovascular health. The researchers further observed that the absence of these psychological assets was even damaging.
