Heart Health and Stroke

Jump to another page... Introduction Chronic heart disease Leisure time physical activity Fruits and Vegetables Fruit consumption Vegetable consumption Use of food labels High-fat diet Obesity Smoking Current drinkers Routine annual checkups Hypertension and high blood pressure High cholesterol Diabetes prevalence Direct care physician to population ratio Hospitalization rate for Heart Disease Age-adjusted mortality for heart disease Years of potential life lost (YPLL) due to heart disease Cerebrovascular Disease Direct Care Physicians Hospitalization rate for cerebrovascular disease (stroke) Age-adjusted mortality for cerebrovascular disease (stroke) Years of potential life lost (YPLL) due to cerebrovascular disease (stroke)

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruit consumption

A healthy diet includes consumption of adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends that people eat two or more servings of fruit a day. The BRFSS asks respondents how many times a day they eat fruit, but not the serving size. The Healthy People 2010 goal is that 75 percent of the population will consume two or more servings of fruit each day. In the data from 2005, only 14 percent of Texans reported that they consume fruit two or more times a day. In Bexar County 16 percent reported that they meet this standard. This is down from 20 percent in 2002. The downward trend appears to have occurred across the state. It is possible that recent public attention to diets such as the “Atkins,” “South Beach,” and other widely discussed diets have had an impact on fruit consumption.

The size of the BRFSS sample is not large enough to produce reliable estimates of the percent of persons living in the sectors in the south of Bexar County who consume fruits two or more times a day, except for the West sector.β An average of 15 percent of residents in the southern sectors report eating fruit two or more times a day. In the sectors in northern Bexar County, an average of 18 percent of respondents indicate they eat fruits two or more times a day. In the North Central sector 23 percent report meeting the standard, but only 14 percent of those in the Northeast sector report eating fruits two or more times a day.

Vegetable consumption

The United States Department of Agriculture recommends that people eat three or more servings of vegetables a day. The BRFSS asks respondents how many times a day they eat vegetables, but not the serving size. The Healthy People 2010 goal is that 50 percent of the population will consume three or more servings of vegetables each day. In the data from 2004-2005, only 28 percent of Texans reported that they consume vegetables three or more times per day. In Bexar County, 27 percent reported they meet this standard. There appears to be little change in the percentage who report eating three or more vegetables a day across the state.

The size of the BRFSS sample is not large enough to produce reliable estimates of the percent of persons consuming vegetables for residents living in the sectors in the south of Bexar County, except for the West sector. An average of 22 percent of residents of the southern sectors report eating vegetables three or more times a day. Thirty-six percent of residents in the West sector report eating vegetables three or more times a day. In the sectors in the north of Bexar County an average of 31 percent indicates they eat vegetables three or more times a day. Only 22 percent of those in the Northeast sector report eating vegetables three or more times a day. In the North Central sector, 50 percent report meeting the Healthy People 2010 goal.

Use of food labels

Labels on most foods provide information about nutritional content in foods. Reading and using the information provided can ensure that one is getting the desired nutrients and eliminating foods that contain undesirable amounts of chemical compounds. Whether or not participants read food labels was not asked in the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS, but data collected in 2002 provides a reasonable estimate of the use of food labels. In 2002, 69 percent of Bexar County resident reported that they read and use food labels. The lowest percentage of reported use of food labels was in the South sector at 63 percent. Sixty-six to 68 percent of residents in the East, West, and Northwest sectors report use food labels. The areas that report the highest use of food labels are the Northeast and North Central sectors at 72 and 74 percent respectively.

High-fat diet

In 2002, when asked whether the foods they eat are high fat, medium fat, or low fat, 14 percent of residents of Bexar County indicated that they eat a high fat diet. This question was not asked on the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS, but there is little reason to believe the responses would be significantly different in the current time-frame. Across the county the percent reporting that they consume a high fat diet varies from a low of 10 percent in the West to 17 percent in the East. This question depends on the respondent’s understanding of the nutritional content of foods. A better understanding of nutrition, including which foods contribute to health, and which are detrimental, could improve both eating habits and help with loosing weight and maintaining a healthy body weight. A combination of good nutrition and exercise is suggested to improve body weight.