This should be alarming. A study that collected and reviewed data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey over the period of 17 years, from 2009 to 2016, showed that only 12% of American adults had “normal” values for some key metabolic markers. The markers examined were Waist Circumference, Glucose control (fasting glucose and HbA1c), blood pressure, level of triglycerides, HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) levels and while also not taking any related medications. Only 12% of people had markers in the normal range.
Link to study: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/met.2018.0105
Looking at the study critically, the sample size was 8721 participants and what looks like from a particular part of the US. So, sample size is not enormous and regions could clearly have variations. The same study conducted in the SF Bay Area for example might fair better than Atlanta, GA.
Some of the data collected was self-reported.
The study did exclude instances of poor data collection and seems to have made certain that variables like smoking and education level were included.
Some key takeaways:
Women did better than men. The prevalence of metabolic health was higher in women than men, in those highly educated, who reported currently doing any recreational vigorous physical activity and never smokers; and it decreased markedly with aging.
Less than one-third of normal weight adults were metabolically healthy, and the prevalence decreased with increasing BMI. The prevalence of metabolic health was higher among the underweight than in the normal weight; however, the percentage of Americans who are underweight is small and there were only 137 underweight adults in the NHANES unweighted sample. Exclusion of the Waist Circumference criterion had a relatively large impact on the percentage of obese and overweight adults who were classified as metabolically healthy. WC criteria changed the overall estimate of optimal metabolic health from 12.2% to 17.6%. This is interesting because it seems that metabolic health doesn’t necessarily coincide with waist circumference. I’ve seen this before, an engineer turned nutrition aficionado, Ivor Cummins, has lots of interesting data to suggest that an individuals accumulation of extra energy is not necessarily a major determinant of metabolic health. Where the individual “wears” the extra weight might be an interesting indication of health. For another post.
Despite any shortcomings of the data collected or sample size, this should be a good start and a wake-up call. The variations on this probably won’t change drastically by demographics. Just being out in public lately I can’t help notice that almost everyone is carrying quite a bit of extra weight, particularly at the stomach. Just among my family, the incidence of reports of health issues is depressingly high. Constant complaints of chronic headaches, migraines, GI problems, auto-immune disorders and general pain, all things I’ve personally resolved almost entirely with diet changes. This needs to change. In my opinion, this needs a grassroots-type swell of dissemination of good nutrition info. The focus of this should be on dispelling myths created by current nutritional guidelines, combatting FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) spread by commercial interests and spiritually ideological groups. This is the primary purpose of this site, this is my contribution to the Wisdom of the Crowd to help my fellow man (and woman).