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Over five decades, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has become known as the nation’s first “food as medicine” program. Low-income families receiving WIC benefits — which provides nutritious food in designated categories, nutrition education and access to other social services — have fewer premature births and infant deaths, eat higher-quality diets, and are more likely to receive regular medical care. 

But many families who are income eligible to participate in WIC aren’t receiving those benefits. Research has found that households who don’t use the full amount of their nutrition benefits are more likely to drop from the program. 

New research by the University of Washington has found that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term. Better understanding these patterns could help WIC agencies identify families who might need a little extra encouragement to stay enrolled.

The study was published Dec. 3 in JAMA Network Open. 

“Finding ways to identify kids and families that are at risk of dropping out of the program is of high importance,” said Pia Chaparro, a UW assistant professor of health systems and population health and first author of the study. “That’s basically what we’ve identified — a way to flag families who may be at risk of dropping off.”

WIC provides families with food benefits in specific categories, with fruits and vegetables and eggs as the most popular. In partnership with Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC (PHFE WIC), a Southern California WIC agency with a large research and evaluation division, researchers analyzed redemption data from 188,000 participating infants and children 0-3 years old, between the years 2019 and 2023. 

Among those children, higher redemption of fruits and vegetables, eggs, whole milk and infant formula was associated with lower risk of their household discontinuing WIC participation. 

The risk of discontinuation decreased in a somewhat linear fashion as redemption rates increased.

Chaparro hopes that local WIC agencies will build on these findings and seek new ways to engage families at risk of dropping off. All WIC providers must offer nutrition education, which could be an opportunity to target households with lower redemption rates in popular categories. 

The findings come just over a year after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees WIC, implemented significant updates to the program’s food package. Among other changes, the 2024 rule significantly increased benefits for fresh fruits and vegetables, which has proven popular.

“The expansion of fruit and vegetable benefits for WIC families has been among the most important policy changes of the last decade,” said Shannon Whaley, director of research and evaluation at PHFE WIC and co-author of the study. “Families want more fruits and vegetables, and this research demonstrates that their inclusion in the WIC food package is essential for longer-term engagement in the program.”

Christopher Anderson of the University of Tennessee and PHFE WIC is the corresponding author. This study was funded by The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Partnership.

When uncontrolled wildfires moved from the foothills above Los Angeles into the densely populated urban areas below in January 2025, evacuation ensued and a thick layer of toxic smoke spread across the region. Air quality plummeted. Local hospitals braced for a surge, but it never came.  

Research led by the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the Los Angeles fires affected people’s health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency. In the rapid study, published Nov. 26 in JAMA Health Forum, researchers analyzed the health records of 3.7 million Kaiser Permanente members of all ages living in the region. They found that health care visits did rise above normal levels, especially virtual services.  

In the week after the fires ignited, Kaiser Permanente members made 42% more virtual visits for respiratory symptoms than expected. Those living near a burn zone or within Los Angeles County also made 44% and 40% more virtual cardiovascular visits, respectively, than expected. 

In-person outpatient visits for respiratory symptoms also increased substantially. Members who lived near a burn zone or within Los Angeles County made 27% and 31% more virtual cardiovascular visits, respectively, than expected. 

Extrapolating to all insured residents of the county, the researchers estimated an excess of 15,792 cardiovascular virtual visits, 18,489 respiratory virtual visits and 27,903 respiratory outpatient visits in the first week of the fires. 

The results suggest that people may rely more heavily on virtual health care during climate-related emergencies, and that providers should better prioritize virtual and telehealth services as they prepare for future crises. 

“We saw over 6,241 excess cardiorespiratory virtual visits in the week following the fire ignition. This represents a substantial increase in care,” said Joan Casey, a UW associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of epidemiology who led the research. “While the fires clearly impacted health, virtual care likely enhanced the ability of providers to meet the health care needs of people experiencing an ongoing climate disaster.” 

In collaboration with Kaiser Permanente Southern California, an integrated health care system with millions of members across the region, researchers analyzed health records of people who were highly or moderately exposed to wildfires. They defined high exposure as living within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of a burn zone, and moderate exposure as living within Los Angeles County but farther than 12 miles during the time of the fires.  

Researchers looked back three years to estimate how many health care visits to expect in the weeks following Jan. 7 — the first day of the fires — under typical conditions. They then estimated how many people sought care in the first week of the fires, when smoke levels were highest, evacuations took place, and Los Angeles County public schools were closed.

In addition to the spike in cardiovascular and respiratory visits, researchers found a sharp increase in the number of visits for injuries and neuropsychiatric symptoms. On Jan. 7, outpatient injury visits were 18% higher than expected among highly exposed members, and virtual injury visits were 26% and 18% higher than expected among highly and moderately exposed groups, respectively. Among those same groups, outpatient neuropsychiatric visits rose 31% and 28% above expectations, respectively.

While both groups made significantly more visits than expected, proximity to the fires mattered. When researchers zoomed in on respiratory-related virtual visits, they found that minimally exposed members made 31% more visits, moderately exposed members made 36% more, and those living in highly exposed areas made 42% more.  

“While healthcare systems often plan to increase the number of hospital beds available or clinic staffing during an emergency, this work highlights the importance of considering virtual care capacity,” said Lauren Wilner, a UW doctoral student of epidemiology and co-author on the study. “This may be particularly true for climate disasters like wildfires, during which people are advised to stay indoors or when people must evacuate — motivating them to seek care online if at all possible. As climate disasters increase in frequency and intensity, it is essential that health care systems know how to prepare for a sudden and dramatic surge in health care utilization.” 

Other authors on this study are Yuqian Gu, Gina Lee and Sara Tartof of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Lara Schwarz of the University of California, Berkeley; Timothy Frankland of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; Heather McBrien and Nina Flores of Columbia University; Chen Chen and Arnab Dey of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego; and Tarik Benmarhnia of the Scripps Institution and the University of Rennes in France.

This research was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. 

For more information or to reach the research team, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

About 10% of American babies are born prematurely. Birth before 37 weeks can lead to a cascade of health risks, both immediate and long-term, making prevention a vital tool for improving public health over generations. 

In recent years, researchers have identified a potential link between wildfire smoke — one of the fastest-growing sources of air pollution in the United States — and preterm birth, but no study has been big or broad enough to draw definitive conclusions. A new study led by the University of Washington makes an important contribution, analyzing data from more than 20,000 births to find that pregnant people who are exposed to wildfire smoke are more likely to give birth prematurely.

“Preventing preterm birth really pays off with lasting benefits for future health,” said lead author Allison Sherris, a UW postdoctoral researcher in environmental and occupational health sciences. “It’s also something of a mystery. We don’t always understand why babies are born preterm, but we know that air pollution contributes to preterm births, and it makes sense that wildfire smoke would as well. This study underscores that wildfire smoke is inseparable from maternal and infant health.”

In the study, published Nov. 3 in The Lancet Planetary Health, researchers used data from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, a federal research project focused on how a wide range of environmental factors affect children’s health. The sample included 20,034 births from 2006-2020 across the contiguous United States.

Researchers estimated participants’ average daily exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, generated by wildfire smoke, and the total number of days they were exposed to any amount of smoke. They estimated the intensity of smoke exposure by how frequently participants were exposed to wildfire PM2.5 levels above certain thresholds.

They found that pregnant people exposed to more intense wildfire smoke were more likely to give birth prematurely. In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

“The second trimester is a period of pregnancy with the richest and most intense growth of the placenta, which itself is such an important part of fetal health, growth and development,” said co-author Dr. Catherine Karr, a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine. “So it may be that the wildfire smoke particles are really interfering with placental health. Some of them are so tiny that after inhalation they can actually get into the bloodstream and get delivered directly into the placenta or fetus.” 

The link was strongest and most precise in the Western U.S., where people were exposed to the highest concentrations of wildfire PM2.5 and the greatest number of high-intensity smoke days. Here, the odds of preterm birth increased with each additional microgram per cubic meter of average wildfire PM2.5.

It’s possible those results were more precise simply because the West experiences more wildfire smoke on average, making the exposure model perform better, Sherris said. But there may be other factors behind the regional differences. 

The composition of wildfire smoke is different across the country. In the West, smoke tends to come from fires nearby, while in places like the Midwest, smoke has typically drifted in from faraway fires. Smoke’s toxicity changes as it ages and reacts with sunlight and airborne chemicals, which could have affected the results. Researchers also noted that external factors like co-occurring heat or housing quality may have effects that aren’t fully understood. 

Researchers hope that future studies will examine the exact mechanisms by which wildfire smoke might trigger preterm birth. But in the meantime, Sherris said, evidence for a link is now strong enough to take action. 

“There are a couple avenues for change,” Sherris said. “First, people already get a lot of public health messaging and information throughout pregnancy, so there’s an opportunity to work with clinicians to provide tools for pregnant people to protect themselves during smoke events. Public health agencies’ messaging about wildfire smoke could also be tailored to pregnant people and highlight them as a vulnerable group.”

Co-authors include Logan Dearborn, doctoral student of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; Christine Loftus, clinical associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; Adam Szpiro, professor of biostatistics at the UW; Joan Casey, associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of epidemiology at the UW; Sindana Ilango, postdoctoral fellow of epidemiology at the UW; and Marissa Childs, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW. A full list of co-authors is included with the paper.

This research was funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program at the National Institutes of Health under multiple awards. A full list of ECHO funding awards is included with the paper. 

For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

Targeted drug delivery is a powerful and promising area of medicine. Therapies that pinpoint the exact areas of the body where they’re needed — and nowhere they’re not — can reduce the medicine dosage and avoid potentially harmful “off target” effects elsewhere in the body. A targeted immunotherapy, for example, might seek out cancerous tissues and activate immune cells to fight the disease only in those tissues.

The tricky part is making a therapy truly “smart,” where the medicine can move freely through the body and decide which areas to target.

Researchers at the University of Washington took a significant step toward that goal by designing proteins with autonomous decision-making capabilities. In a proof-of-principles study published Oct. 9 in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers demonstrated that by adding smart tail structures to therapeutic proteins, they could control the proteins’ localization based on the presence of specific environmental cues. These protein tails fold themselves into preprogrammed shapes that define how they react to different combinations of cues. In addition, the experiment showed that the smart protein tails could be attached to a carrier material for delivery to living cells.

Advances in synthetic biology also allowed the researchers to manufacture these proteins cheaply and in a matter of days instead of months.

“We’ve been thinking about these concepts for some time but have struggled with ways to increase and automate production,” said senior author Cole DeForest, a UW professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering. “We’ve now finally figured out how to produce these systems faster, at scale and with dramatically enhanced logical complexity. We are excited about how these will lead to more sophisticated and scalable disease-honing therapies.”

The concept of programmable biomaterials isn’t new. Scientists have developed numerous strategies to make systems responsive to individual cues — such as pH levels or the presence of specific enzymes — that are associated with a particular disease or area of the body. But it’s rare to find one cue, or “biomarker,” that’s unique to one spot, so a material that hones in on just one biomarker might act on a few unintended places in addition to the target.

One solution to this problem is to seek out a combination of biomarkers. There might be many areas of the body with particular enzyme or pH levels, but there are likely fewer areas with both of those factors. In theory, the more biomarkers a material can identify, the more finely targeted drug delivery can be.

In 2018, DeForest’s lab created a new class of materials that responded to multiple biomarkers using Boolean logic, a concept traditionally used in computer programming.

“We realized that we could program how therapeutics were released based simply on how they were connected to a carrier material,” DeForest said. “For example, if we linked a therapeutic cargo to a material via two degradable groups connected in series — that is, each after the other — it would be released if either group was degraded, acting as an OR gate. When the degradable groups were instead connected in parallel — that is, each on a different half of a cycle — both groups had to be degraded for cargo release, functioning as an AND gate. Excitingly, by combining these basic gates we could readily create advanced logical circuits.”

It was a big step forward, but it wasn’t scalable — the team built these large and complex logic-responsive materials manually through traditional organic chemistry.

But over the next several years, the related field of synthetic biology advanced by leaps and bounds.

“The field has developed exciting new protein-based tools that can allow researchers to form permanent bonds between proteins,” said co-first author Murial Ross, a UW doctoral student of bioengineering. “It opened doors for new protein structures that were previously unachievable, which made more complex logical operations possible.”

Additionally, it became practical to use living cells as factories to produce these complex proteins, allowing scientists to design custom DNA blueprints for new proteins, insert the DNA into bacteria or other host cells, and then collect the proteins with the desired structure directly from the cells.

With these new tools, DeForest and his team streamlined and improved many steps of the process at once. They designed and produced proteins with tails that spontaneously fold into more bespoke shapes, creating complex “circuits” that can respond to up to five different biomarkers. These new proteins can attach to various carriers — hydrogels, tiny beads or living cells — for delivery to a cell, or theoretically a disease site. The team even loaded up one carrier with three different proteins, each programmed to deliver their unique cargo based on different sets of environmental cues.

“We were so excited about the results,” DeForest said. “Using the old process, it would take months to synthesize just a few milligrams of each of these materials. Now it takes us a couple of weeks to go from construct design to product. It’s been a complete game changer for us.”

“The sky’s the limit. You can create delayed and independent delivery of many different components in one treatment,” Ross said. “And I think we could create much, much larger logical circuits that a protein can be responsive to. We’re at the point now that the technology is outpacing what we’ve seriously considered in terms of applications, which is a great place to be.”

The researchers will now continue searching for more biomarkers that proteins could target. They also hope to start collaborating with other labs at the UW and beyond to build and deploy real-world therapies.

The team outlined other uses for the technology as well. The same tools could manufacture therapies within a single cell and direct them to specific regions, a sort of microcosm of how the process works in the body. DeForest also envisions diagnostic tools like blood tests that could, say, turn a certain color when a complex set of cues within the blood sample are present.

DeForest thinks the first practical applications are likely to be cancer treatments, but with more research, the possibilities feel endless.

“The dream is to be able to pick any arbitrary location inside of the body — down to individual cells — and program a material to go and act there,” he said. “That’s a tall order, but with these technologies we’re getting closer. With the right combination of biomarkers, these materials will just get more and more precise.”

Co-authors include Annabella Li, a former UW undergraduate student of chemical engineering; Shivani Kottantharayil, a UW undergraduate student of bioengineering; and Jack Hoye, a UW doctoral student of chemical engineering.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, contact DeForest at profcole@uw.edu. 

In the 10 years since the federal government established the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which enabled universal free meal programs for schools in low-income communities, studies have suggested the policy has wide-ranging benefits. Students in participating schools choose lunches with higher nutritional quality, are suspended less frequently and may perform better academically.

Now, as cuts to food assistance programs threaten to slash access to universal school meals, a new study led by the University of Washington finds another potential benefit to the programs: Students in participating schools were less likely to have high blood pressure, suggesting that universal free meals might be a powerful tool for improving public health. 

“High blood pressure is an important public health problem that isn’t studied as much on a population level as obesity,” said Anna Localio, a UW postdoctoral researcher of health systems and population health and lead author of the study. “We have evidence that CEP increases participation in school meals, and we also have evidence that school meals are more nutritious than meals that kids obtain elsewhere. This is a public health policy that is delivering nutritious meals to children who may not have previously had access.”

For the study, published Sept. 25 in JAMA Network Open, researchers linked two datasets that rarely interact. They obtained medical records of patients ages 4-18 from community health organizations, and used patients’ addresses to identify the school they attended. The data encompassed 155,778 young people attending 1,052 schools, mostly in California and Oregon.

Researchers estimated the percentage of students with high blood pressure before and after schools opted into universal free meals, and compared those results against eligible schools that had not yet participated in the program. They also tracked students’ average systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. All data were aggregated at the school level. 

They found that school participation in the CEP was associated with a 2.71% decrease in the proportion of students with high blood pressure, corresponding to a 10.8% net drop over five years. School participation in CEP was also associated with a decrease in students’ average diastolic blood pressure. 

“In previous work on the health impacts of universal free school meals, our team found that adoption of free meals is associated with decreases in average body mass index scores and childhood obesity prevalence, which are closely linked to risk of high blood pressure,” said Jessica Jones-Smith, a professor of health, society and behavior at the University of California Irvine’s Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health and senior author of the study. Jones-Smith conducted much of this research while on faculty at the UW School of Public Health. “So in addition to directly affecting blood pressure through provision of healthier meals, a second pathway by which providing universal free meals might impact blood pressure is through their impact on lowering risk for high BMI.” 

Improved nutrition of school meals may have helped drive the decrease, researchers said. The 2010 law that established the CEP also created stronger nutritional requirements for school meals. As a result, those meals now more closely resemble the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which studies have shown to be an effective tool for managing hypertension. 

Despite the evidence supporting the DASH diet’s effectiveness, public health officials previously lacked an effective mechanism to encourage people with high blood pressure to follow its recommendations. “We know there are a lot of barriers to people eating this diet,” Localio said, but the combination of universal free meals and increased nutritional standards likely helped students overcome those barriers.

The study also contradicts the common misperception that universal free meals mostly benefit wealthier students, because students from low-income families would already receive free meals. The study sample consists primarily of low-income patients, with 85% of included students enrolled in public health insurance such as Medicaid.

“There is a perception that providing universally free school meals will only improve outcomes for students of relatively higher-income families, but our findings suggest that there are benefits for lower-income children as well,” Jones-Smith said. “Potential mechanisms for this include decreasing the income-related stigma around eating school lunch by providing it free to all students and eliminating the time and paperwork burden of individually applying, thus decreasing barriers to participation in school meals.”

These findings come at an uncertain time for universal free meals. A school is eligible to participate in the CEP if at least 25% of its students are identified as eligible for free meals via participation in a means-tested safety net program. In this way, recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest food assistance program, may affect schools’ access to the program.

“We’re in a contentious time for public health, but it seems like there’s bipartisan support for healthy school meals,” Localio said. “There’s legislation being considered in a number of states to expand universal free meals, and these findings could inform that decision-making. Cutting funding to school meals would not promote children’s health.” 

Co-authors on the study include Paul Hebert, research professor emeritus of health systems and population health at the UW; Melissa Knox, teaching professor of economics at the UW; Wyatt Benksen and Aileen Ochoa of OCHIN; and Jennifer Sonney, associate professor of nursing at the UW. This study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. 

For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

DALLAS, Jan. 23, 2026 — While grocery store shelves may be empty, firewood piles filled and cell phones charged, there may be a few more items to check off on your prep list for the upcoming winter storms. Along with the many other hazards of cold weather: it can pose some unique concerns when it comes to heart health. The American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all, offers some important information for staying heart-safe when temperatures drop:

Know the cold weather health dangers

• The cold causes blood vessels to contract and coronary arteries to constrict, which can raise blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke or even cardiac arrest. 
• Strenuous activities can add stressors to the heart that people aren’t normally used to. Our hearts also have to work extra hard in cold weather to keep a healthy body temperature. 
• Hypothermia occurs when your body can't produce enough energy to keep the internal body temperature warm enough. It can kill you. Symptoms include lack of coordination, mental confusion, slowed reactions, shivering and sleepiness. 
• People with heart disease often suffer angina pectoris (chest pain or discomfort) when they're in cold weather. 
• Cold weather is also associated with cold and flu season, but be careful about the cold medicines you take, especially if you have high blood pressure. It’s best to check with your health care professional or pharmacist before taking any over-the-counter medications, supplements or substances. 

Take precautions to stay heart-healthy

• Your mom was right – bundle up! If you must go out, wear layers to avoid hypothermia and frostbite. Layering clothing traps air between the layers, forming protective insulation. Also, wear a hat or head scarf. Heat can be lost through your head. And ears are especially prone to frostbite. Keep your hands and feet warm, too, as they tend to lose heat rapidly.
• Don’t overdo it. Walking through heavy snow — or climbing up the sledding hill — isn’t a walk in the park. Your body is already using extra energy to stay warm, so go slow, take breaks and don’t exert yourself.
• Shovel safely. If you have to clear off the sidewalks and driveway, start gradually and pace yourself. Ideally, push or sweep the snow rather than lifting and throwing it, that action involves a little less exertion. Pay attention to your body and if something doesn’t feel right, stop.
• Stay hydrated. Just because it’s cold and you may not feel thirsty, but thirst isn’t the best indicator that you need to drink, even if you aren't sweating as much you still need to hydrate. 
• Watch out for the added calories in cold weather drinks. Comforting drinks like pumpkin spiced lattes and hot chocolate can be loaded with unwanted sugar and fat.  
• Limit the alcohol. Alcohol may increase a person’s sensation of warmth and may cause them to underestimate the extra strain their body is under in the cold.
• Check on your loved ones: Elderly people may also have lower subcutaneous fat and a diminished ability to sense temperature so they can suffer hypothermia without knowing they're in danger
• Learn the heart attack warning signs and listen to your body. Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, have it checked out. Minutes matter! Fast action can save lives — maybe your own. Don’t wait to call 911.
• Learn CPR: EMS response times can be slower in bad weather. More than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen outside the hospital each year. Hands-Only CPR can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. Save a life in two steps: Call 9-1-1; Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

Learn more about cold weather and cardiovascular disease at heart.org.

Additional Resources:

• AHA health information: Cold Weather and Cardiovascular Disease
• AHA health information: How to Stay Active in Cold Weather
• Follow us on X @HeartNews

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About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.    

For Media Inquiries:

Cathy Lewis: cathy.lewis@heart.org

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org

Aspectos destacados:

• Según la actualización de las estadísticas sobre enfermedades cardíacas y ataques o derrames cerebrales del 2026 de la American Heart Association, las enfermedades cardíacas siguen siendo la principal causa de muerte en los EE. UU. y los ataques o derrames cerebrales ascendieron al cuarto lugar.
• En conjunto, representaron más de una cuarta parte de todas las muertes en los EE. UU. en 2023, el año más reciente para el que se dispone de datos.
• Las enfermedades cardiovasculares, incluidos todos los tipos de enfermedades cardíacas y ataques o derrames cerebrales, causan cada año más muertes en los EE. UU. que todas las formas de cáncer y los accidentes (la segunda y tercera causa de muerte) juntos.

Prohibida su divulgación hasta las 4 a. m. CT/5 a. m. ET del miércoles, 21 de enero del 2026

DALLAS, 21 de enero de 2026. Tras cinco años de una tendencia creciente en la que probablemente haya influido la pandemia del COVID-19, el número de muertes por enfermedades cardíacas y ataques o derrames cerebrales parece haber disminuido. Sin embargo, las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales siguen siendo la principal causa de muerte en los EE. UU. cada año, según los datos publicados en el informe 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart Association (sitio web en inglés). En conjunto, las enfermedades cardíacas (22% de las muertes en los EE. UU.), la principal causa de muerte desde hace más de un siglo, y los ataques o derrames cerebrales (5.3% de las muertes en EE. UU.), que ahora sustituyen al COVID-19 como la cuarta causa de muerte, representaron en 2023, el último año para el que se dispone de datos, más de una cuarta parte de todas las muertes en los EE. UU. La actualización anual se publica hoy en Circulation (sitio web en inglés), la revista insignia revisada por expertos de la American Heart Association, una fuerza global que está cambiando el futuro de la salud para todas las personas.

Las muertes totales por enfermedades cardíacas y ataque o derrame cerebral siguen disminuyendo, con menos muertes totales y ligeras mejoras en la tasa de mortalidad ajustada por edad. Esta tasa es una forma de establecer una comparación equitativa entre tasas de mortalidad eliminando el efecto de las diferentes estructuras de edad en las poblaciones.

Entre las estadísticas clave del informe se incluyen las siguientes:

• En el 2023, hubo 915 973 muertes totales por enfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV) (sitio web en inglés), incluidas las enfermedades cardíacas (sitio web en inglés), los ataques o derrames cerebrales, la hipertensión y la insuficiencia cardíaca, lo cual representa una reducción con respecto a las 941 652 muertes por ECV del 2022. La tasa de mortalidad por ECV ajustada según la edad en 2023 fue de 218.3 por cada 100 000 personas, frente a 224.3 por cada 100 000 en el 2022.
  • En promedio, cada 34 segundos, alguien murió a causa de una ECV en el 2023.
• La enfermedad coronaria (la forma más común de ECV, que afecta a las arterias del corazón y suele provocar un ataque cardíaco) fue la causa subyacente de 349 470 muertes en EE. UU. en el 2023, frente a 371 506 muertes en 2022.
  • En promedio, murieron unas 2 personas por enfermedad cardíaca cada 3 minutos en EE. UU. en 2023.
• El ataque o derrame cerebral fue la causa subyacente de 162 639 muertes en EE. UU. en el 2023, frente a 165 393 muertes en el 2022.
  • En promedio, en 2023, una persona murió por un ataque o derrame cerebral cada 3 minutos y 14 segundos en los EE. UU.

“Es alentador ver que el total de muertes por enfermedad cardíaca y ataque o derrame cerebral disminuyó. Los últimos cinco años parecen haber sido una anomalía dado el enorme impacto que la pandemia tuvo en la salud en general durante ese tiempo”, dijo la Dra. Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, presidenta voluntaria de la American Heart Association, vicepresidenta sénior de salud de la mujer y directora ejecutiva del Instituto Katz para la Salud de la Mujer de Northwell Health en la ciudad de Nueva York. “El hecho es que las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales siguen cobrándose la vida de muchos de nuestros seres queridos todos los días. En conjunto, siguen matando a más personas que la segunda y la tercera causa de muerte, que incluyen todos los tipos de cáncer y los accidentes combinados”.

Si analizamos la clasificación, el ataque o derrame cerebral se sitúa ahora en el cuarto lugar de la lista de principales causas de muerte, lo que se correlaciona con el hecho de que las muertes por COVID descendieron del cuarto al décimo lugar. Aunque el número total de muertes por un ataque o derrame cerebral disminuyó por primera vez en varios años, un incremento de las muertes por ataque o derrame cerebral entre las poblaciones más jóvenes y de mayor edad sigue siendo un problema de salud importante:

• Hubo un aumento del 8.3% en la tasa bruta de mortalidad por ataque o derrame cerebral entre las personas de 25 y 34 años entre el 2013 y el 2023, un contraste considerable en comparación con la ausencia de aumento de esta tasa entre el 2012 y el 2022.
• Hubo un aumento del 18.2% en la tasa bruta de mortalidad por ataque o derrame cerebral entre las personas mayores de 85 años de edad entre el 2013 y el 2023, en contraste con un aumento del 12.1% entre el 2012 y el 2022.

“La buena noticia es que, en total, cada vez mueren menos personas por cualquier causa, y las tasas de mortalidad están mejorando a medida que la esperanza de vida sigue recuperándose tras la pandemia del COVID-19”, afirma la presidenta voluntaria del Comité de Redacción de la actualización de las estadísticas de la American Heart Association, Latha P. Palaniappan, M.D., M.S., FAHA, profesora de medicina cardiovascular de la Universidad de Stanford en Palo Alto, California. “Sin embargo, aproximadamente la mitad de los estadounidenses adultos siguen teniendo algún tipo de enfermedad cardiovascular. Esas tasas siguen siendo más altas que antes de la pandemia y el aumento continuo de afecciones frecuentes como la hipertensión, la diabetes y la obesidad siguen aumentando el riesgo”.

Palaniappan afirmó que la creciente prevalencia de estas afecciones médicas que contribuyen al ataque o derrame cerebral y a las enfermedades cardiovasculares en general sigue siendo preocupante. Comparación de los datos del 2017 al 2020 con los datos del 2021 al 2023:

• Alrededor de 125.9 millones (47.3%) de estadounidenses adultos tienen en la actualidad presión arterial alta, frente a 122.4 millones (46.7%) de personas anteriormente.
• Casi 29.5 millones de estadounidenses adultos tienen diabetes diagnosticada, comparado con 29.3 millones de personas anteriormente.
• Alrededor del 50% de los estadounidenses tienen obesidad u obesidad grave, y aunque esta cifra es ligeramente inferior al 51.1% anterior, se ha observado un alarmante aumento de la obesidad y la obesidad grave entre los jóvenes de 2 y 19 años durante este período: del 25.4% anterior al 28.1% actual.

Estos factores de salud no solo contribuyen a las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales, sino que también provocan otras complicaciones. Debido a la interconexión entre estas afecciones, la actualización de las estadísticas de este año incluye, por primera vez, un capítulo sobre el síndrome cardiovascular-renal-metabólico (CKM) (sitio web en inglés), un trastorno de salud que consiste en la conexión entre enfermedades cardíacas, enfermedades renales, diabetes y obesidad, lo que conduce a malos resultados de salud. El síndrome CKM se identifica por la presencia de factores de riesgo como presión arterial alta, triglicéridos altos, colesterol anormal, glucosa (azúcar) alta en sangre, deterioro de la función renal y peso elevado u obesidad. Los datos del informe de este año indican lo siguiente:

• Casi el 90% de los estadounidenses adultos tienen cierto nivel del síndrome CKM y
• Más del 80% de los adultos estadounidenses adultos jóvenes y de mediana edad estadounidenses ya presentan un riesgo precoz de CKM.

“Estas cifras deberían encender las alarmas, sobre todo entre los adultos jóvenes, ya que son un reflejo de nuestro futuro”, declaró Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, vicepresidenta voluntaria del grupo de redacción de la actualización de las estadísticas, Magerstadt Professor de Epidemiología cardiovascular y profesora asociada de Cardiología y medicina preventiva en la Feinberg School of Medicine de la Universidad Northwestern de Chicago. “Las proyecciones generales para estas afecciones médicas muestran aumentos previstos en casi todos los niveles en las próximas décadas. A pesar de que estas cifras en aumento pueden resultar desalentadoras, los avances en nuestro arsenal diagnóstico y terapéutico son esperanzadores. Podemos detectar las señales de alerta antes de que ocurran los eventos y ahora disponemos de muchas herramientas para prevenirlos. La prevención es nuestra herramienta más poderosa para lograr el mayor impacto posible, y cuanto más la utilicemos y cuanto antes lo hagamos, más vidas podremos salvar”.

En varios estudios citados en la actualización de las estadísticas se señala que seguir las recomendaciones de Life's Essential 8™ de la American Heart Association sobre un estilo de vida saludable puede contribuir a prevenir las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales, así como a mejorar la salud cerebral. Life's Essential 8 es un conjunto de cuatro conductas de salud (comer mejor, ser más activo, dejar el tabaco y dormir bien) y cuatro factores de salud (controlar el peso, controlar el colesterol, controlar el azúcar en sangre y controlar la presión arterial) que son medidas clave para mejorar y mantener la salud cardiovascular. Cumplir con estas medidas determina una puntuación de salud cardiovascular que oscila entre ideal, moderada y baja.

“Cada vez hay más pruebas científicas que demuestran que cumplir con estas ocho medidas puede reducir drásticamente la carga global de las enfermedades cardiovasculares. Los resultados de muchos de esos estudios que aparecen en la actualización de las estadísticas de este año nos han animado mucho”, declaró Palaniappan.

Entre los resultados se incluyen los siguientes:

• En una revisión de 59 estudios realizados entre el 2010 y el 2022, se observó que las personas que tenían una salud cardiovascular ideal, según las mediciones de Life's Essential 8, tenían un riesgo un 74% menor de sufrir eventos cardiovasculares en comparación con aquellas que tenían una mala salud cardiovascular.
• En los Estados Unidos, puntuaciones óptimas en el Life's Essential 8 podrían prevenir hasta el 40% de las muertes anuales de adultos por todas las causas y por ECV.
• Además, una mejor salud cardiovascular se asoció con una mejor salud cerebral, incluida una edad cerebral más joven, menos enfermedades vasculares subclínicas, un deterioro cognitivo más lento y un menor riesgo de demencia. Por ejemplo, en un metaanálisis de 14 estudios, se observó que una mejora de 1 punto en la salud cardiovascular se asoció con una tasa de demencia un 6% menor, y el impacto negativo de una mala salud cardiovascular fue más pronunciado en la mediana edad que en etapas posteriores de la vida. Los factores de riesgo vasculares se reconocen cada vez más como el grupo más importante de factores de riesgo para la salud cerebral, sobre todo debido a su alta prevalencia y a la posibilidad de modificarlos.

Palaniappan señaló que, lamentablemente, se sigue observando un escaso cumplimiento de las medidas de Life's Essential 8:

• Las puntuaciones de la dieta son las más bajas de las ocho medidas entre adultos y jóvenes.
• Solo 1 de cada 4 (25.3%) estadounidenses adultos cumple con las recomendaciones nacionales de actividad física. Solo 1 de cada 5 (19.5%) estadounidenses de entre 6 y 17 años hace actividad física durante 60 minutos o más todos los días de la semana.
• Las tasas generales de consumo de cigarrillos parecen estar disminuyendo; sin embargo, los cigarrillos electrónicos son ahora los productos de tabaco más utilizados por los jóvenes: el 18.1% de los estudiantes de secundaria (2.84 millones) estadounidenses afirman consumir cigarrillos electrónicos. Entre los estudiantes de secundaria y preparatoria que actualmente usan cigarrillos electrónicos, el 26.3% informó que los usa a diario.
• Menos de la mitad (43.5%) de los estadounidenses adultos que reciben tratamiento para la diabetes tipo 2 tienen su enfermedad bajo control.

“Sabemos que hasta el 80% de las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales se pueden prevenir con cambios en el estilo de vida, y que muchas de las afecciones crónicas de salud que contribuyen a una mala salud cardiovascular se pueden controlar”, afirmó Rosen. “Es posible mejorar la salud cardiovascular. Pero requiere un esfuerzo conjunto. Para muchos, los datos que figuran en la actualización de las estadísticas pueden parecer meros números, pero para la American Heart Association son vidas en juego. Esperamos que esta información sirva de impulso y que nuestros programas y recursos sirvan de guía para que las comunidades se unan en pro del cambio y para que las personas adopten medidas personales. Como una Asociación, seguiremos siendo un catalizador de la transformación para mejorar la salud y el bienestar de todas las personas, en todas partes”.

Desde 1927, la Asociación elabora una actualización anual de las estadísticas como recurso para comprender el verdadero impacto de las enfermedades cardiovasculares y la salud cerebral: a quién afecta más, dónde golpea con más fuerza y qué factores aumentan el riesgo.

“La American Heart Association es la principal entidad sin fines de lucro que financia la investigación sobre las enfermedades cardíacas y los ataques o derrames cerebrales en todo el mundo, y este conocimiento es esencial si queremos cambiar el futuro de la investigación cardiovascular. Además, esta actualización anual de las estadísticas se ha convertido en un recurso fundamental para guiar los esfuerzos de concienciación y fundamentar las políticas destinadas a abordar la creciente carga que suponen las enfermedades cardiovasculares y los factores de riesgo que las provocan”, declaró Nancy Brown, directora ejecutiva de la American Heart Association. “Como principal causa de muerte en el mundo, las enfermedades cardiovasculares requieren atención a nivel global, y los datos revelados en este informe ayudan a orientar la labor de la Asociación para salvar vidas en todo el mundo”.

Un grupo de redacción voluntario preparó esta actualización estadística en nombre del Comité de Estadísticas de Epidemiología y Prevención y el Comité de Estadísticas de Ataque o Derrame Cerebral de la American Heart Association.

Los nombres de los autores y las divulgaciones de los autores adicionales están enumerados en el manuscrito.

Recursos adicionales:

• Los recursos multimedia disponibles se encuentran en la columna derecha del vínculo de la publicación
• Comunicado de prensa en inglés
• Comunicado de prensa en chino tradicional (doc) | Comunicado de prensa en chino simplificado (doc)
• Después de las 4 a. m. CT/5 a. m. ET del miércoles, 21 de enero del 2026, consulte el borrador en línea (sitio web en inglés).
• Consulte las hojas de información del 2026 sobre poblaciones específicas en heart.org/statistics (sitio web en inglés).
• Siga las noticias de Circulation en X @CircAHA (sitio web en inglés).
• Sigue las noticias de la AHA/ASA en X @HeartNews (sitio web en inglés)

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La Asociación recibe más de un 85% de sus ingresos de fuentes ajenas a empresas. Estas fuentes incluyen contribuciones de personas particulares, fundaciones y patrimonios, así como ganancias por inversiones e ingresos por la venta de nuestros materiales informativos. Las empresas (incluidas las farmacéuticas, los fabricantes de dispositivos y otras compañías) también realizan donaciones a la Asociación. La Asociación tiene políticas estrictas para evitar que las donaciones influyan en el contenido científico y en las posturas de sus políticas. La información financiera general está disponible aquí (sitio web en inglés).

Acerca de la American Heart Association

La American Heart Association es una fuerza incansable para un mundo de vidas más largas y saludables. La organización ha sido una fuente líder de información sobre salud durante más de cien años y su objetivo es garantizar la equidad en la salud en todas las comunidades. Con el apoyo de más de 35 millones de voluntarios en todo el mundo, financiamos investigaciones vanguardistas, defendemos la salud pública y proporcionamos recursos fundamentales para salvar y mejorar vidas afectadas por enfermedades cardiovasculares y ataques o derrames cerebrales. Trabajamos incansablemente para hacer avanzar la salud y transformar vidas cada día mediante el impulso de avances y la implementación de soluciones comprobadas en las áreas de ciencia, políticas y cuidados.  Comuníquese con nosotros a través de heart.org, Facebook o X, o llame al 1-800-AHA-USA1.

Para consultas de los medios de comunicación: 214-706-1173

Cathy Lewis: cathy.lewis@heart.org 

Para consultas públicas: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org (sitio web en inglés) y derramecerebral.org

Highlights:

• According to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. and stroke has moved up to the #4 spot.
• Together, heart disease and stroke accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths in the U.S. in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
• Cardiovascular diseases, including all types of heart disease and stroke, claim more lives in the U.S. each year than all forms of cancer and accidental deaths — the #2 and #3 causes of death — combined.

Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT / 5 a.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026

DALLAS, Jan. 21, 2026 — Following a five-year upward trend likely impacted by the COVID pandemic, the number of heart disease and stroke deaths has declined, yet, heart disease and stroke still kill more people in the U.S. each year than any other cause, according to data reported in the 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart Association. Together, heart disease (22% of U.S. deaths) — the leading cause of death for more than a century — and stroke (5.3% of U.S. deaths) — now replacing COVID as the 4^th leading cause of death — accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths in the U.S. in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. The annual update published today in Circulation, the peer-reviewed, flagship journal of the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all.

The overall deaths from heart disease and stroke continue to decline with fewer total deaths and modest improvements in the age-adjusted death rate. Age-adjusted death is a way to compare death rates fairly by removing the effect of different age structures in populations.

Some key statistics from the report include:

• In 2023, there were 915,973 total deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease, stroke, hypertension and heart failure, down from 941,652 CVD deaths in 2022. The age-adjusted rate of CVD deaths in 2023 was 218.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 224.3 per 100,000 in 2022.
  • On average, every 34 seconds, someone died of CVD in 2023.
• Coronary heart disease (the most common form of CVD and impacts the arteries of the heart often leading to a heart attack) was the underlying cause for 349,470 U.S. deaths in 2023, down from 371,506 deaths in 2022.
  • On average, about 2 people died of heart disease every 3 minutes in the U.S. in 2023.
• Stroke was the underlying cause for 162,639 U.S. deaths in 2023, down from 165,393 deaths in 2022.
  • On average in 2023, someone died of stroke every 3 minutes and 14 seconds in the U.S.

“It’s encouraging to see that total deaths from heart disease and stroke declined. The past five years appear to have been an anomaly given the huge impact the pandemic had on all health during that time,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association and senior vice president of women’s health and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health of Northwell Health in New York City. “The fact remains that heart disease and stroke continue to take the lives of too many of our loved ones each and every day. Together, they still kill more people than the #2 and #3 causes of death which include all types of cancer and accidents combined.”

When looking at ranking, stroke now sits at the #4 spot on the list of leading causes of death correlating with the fact that COVID deaths dropped from that spot to #10. While the total number of stroke deaths dropped for the first time in several years, an increase in stroke deaths among the youngest and oldest populations remains a major health concern:

• There was an 8.3% increase in the crude stroke death rate among people 25 to 34 years of age between 2013 and 2023, a significant contrast to no increase in that rate between 2012 and 2022.
• There was an 18.2% increase in the crude stroke death rate among people older than 85 years of age between 2013 and 2023, up from a 12.1% increase between 2012 and 2022.

“The good news is that, overall, fewer people are dying from any cause, and death rates are improving as life expectancy continues to rebound after the COVID‑19 pandemic,” said American Heart Association volunteer chair of the statistics update writing committee Latha P. Palaniappan, M.D., M.S., FAHA, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. “However, about half of all U.S. adults continue to have some form of cardiovascular disease. Those rates are still higher than they were before the pandemic and persistent increases in common conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity continue to drive the risk.”

Palaniappan said the growing prevalence of these health conditions that contribute to stroke and to overall cardiovascular disease continues to be worrisome. Comparing data from 2017 to 2020 with data from 2021 to 2023:

• About 125.9 million (47.3%) U.S. adults now have high blood pressure, compared to 122.4 million (46.7%) people previously.
• Nearly 29.5 million U.S. adults have diagnosed diabetes, compared to 29.3 million people previously.
• About 50% of U.S. adults have obesity or severe obesity, and while that’s slightly lower than 51.1% previously, an alarming increase in obesity and severe obesity was seen in youth 2 to 19 years of age over this time — from 25.4% previously to 28.1% now.

These health factors not only contribute to heart disease and stroke, they also lead to other complications. Because of the interconnectivity of these conditions, for the first time this year’s Statistics Update includes a chapter on cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, a health disorder made up of connections between heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, leading to poor health outcomes. CKM syndrome is identified by the presence of risk factors including high blood pressure, high triglycerides, abnormal cholesterol, high blood glucose (sugar), impaired kidney function and elevated weight or obesity. Data from this year’s report shows:

• Nearly 90% of U.S. adults have some level of CKM syndrome and
• Over 80% of U.S. young and middle-aged adults already show early CKM risk.

“These numbers should ring alarm bells, particularly among young adults because that’s a snapshot into our future,” said Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, volunteer vice-chair of the statistical update writing group the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and an associate professor of cardiology and preventive medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Overall projections for these health conditions show increases expected on nearly every level in the next few decades. Even though these rising numbers can feel discouraging, the advances in our diagnostic and therapeutic arsenal provide hope. We can detect warning signs before events occur and we now have many tools to prevent events. Prevention is our most powerful way to have the greatest impact and the more we use it, and the sooner we use it, the more lives we can save.”

A number of studies cited in the Statistics Update note that following the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8™ healthy lifestyle guidance can make inroads preventing heart disease and stroke and improving brain health. Life’s Essential 8 is a set of four health behaviors (eat better, be more active, quit tobacco and get healthy sleep) and four health factors (manage weight, control cholesterol, manage blood sugar and manage blood pressure) that are key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health. Adherence to the measures determines a cardiovascular health score ranging from ideal, to moderate to low.

“There is a growing body of scientific evidence that shows following these eight measures can dramatically reduce the overall burden of cardiovascular disease. We were very encouraged by the findings of many of those studies featured in this year’s Statistics Update,” Palaniappan said.

Those reported findings include:

• A review of 59 studies from 2010 to 2022 found that people who had ideal cardiovascular health as measured by Life’s Essential 8 had a 74% lower risk of cardiovascular events compared with those who had poor cardiovascular health.
• In the United States, optimal Life’s Essential 8 scores could prevent up to 40% of annual all-cause and CVD deaths among adults.
• Better cardiovascular health was also associated with better brain health including younger brain age, less subclinical vascular disease, slower cognitive decline, and reduced dementia risk. For example. in a meta-analysis of 14 studies, a 1-point improvement in cardiovascular health was associated with a 6% lower rate of dementia and the negative impact of poor cardiovascular health was more pronounced for midlife than later in life. Vascular risk factors are increasingly recognized as the most important cluster of risk factors for brain health, particularly because of their high prevalence and potential or modification.

Palaniappan noted that, unfortunately, data continues to show poor adherence to Life’s Essential 8 measures:

• Diet scores are the lowest of the eight measures among adults and youth.
• Only 1 in 4 (25.3%) of U.S. adults meet national physical activity guidelines. Only 1 in 5 (19.5%) U.S. youths 6 to 17 years of age are physically active for 60 minutes or more every day of the week.
• Overall cigarette smoking rates appear on a decline; however, e-cigarettes are now the most used tobacco products in youths: 18.1% of high school (2.84 million) students in the U.S. report using e-cigarettes. Among middle and high school students who currently use e-cigarettes, 26.3% reported daily use.
• Less than half (43.5%) of U.S. adults being treated for Type 2 diabetes have their condition under control.

“We know that as much as 80% of heart disease and stroke is preventable with lifestyle changes and many chronic health conditions that contribute to poor cardiovascular health are manageable,” Rosen said. “Improving your cardiovascular health is possible. However, it will take a concerted effort. The data provided in the Statistics Update may look like just numbers to many, but to the American Heart Association, they are lives on the line. We hope this information provides an impetus and our programs and resources serve as a guide for communities to unite for change and for individuals to take personal action. As an Association, we will continue to be a catalyst for transformation in improving the health and wellbeing of everyone, everywhere.”

Since 1927, the Association has produced the annual statistics update as a resource for understanding the true impact of cardiovascular disease and brain health — who it affects most, where it strikes hardest and which factors drive risk.

“The American Heart Association is the leading non-profit funder of heart disease and stroke research worldwide and this knowledge is essential if we are to change the future of cardiovascular research. Additionally, this annual statistics update has become a preeminent resource for shaping awareness efforts and informing policy to address the growing burden of cardiovascular disease and the risk factors that drive that,” said American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown. “As the world’s leading cause of death, cardiovascular disease demands global attention, and the insights uncovered in this report help steer the Association’s lifesaving work around the world.”

This statistics update was prepared by a volunteer writing group on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Committee.

Additional author names and authors’ disclosures are listed in the manuscript.

Additional Resources:

• Available multimedia is on right column of release link.
• Spanish news release | Traditional Chinese news release (doc) | Simplified Chinese news release (doc)
• After 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2016, view the manuscript online.
• View 2026 fact sheets on specific populations at heart.org/statistics.
• Follow news from Circulation on X @CircAHA.
• Follow AHA/ASA news on X @HeartNews

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The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations. These sources include contributions from individuals, foundations and estates, as well as investment earnings and revenue from the sale of our educational materials. Corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations to the Association. The Association has strict policies to prevent any donations from influencing its science content and policy positions. Overall financial information is available here.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day.  Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

For Media Inquiries: 214-706-1173

Cathy Lewis: cathy.lewis@heart.org  

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org

Aspectos destacados de la declaración:

• Más de un tercio de los adultos y de los niños en EE. UU. padecen obesidad. Las tasas de obesidad son más altas entre niños y adultos de raza negra no hispanos, las familias con bajos ingresos, las personas que viven en áreas rurales y los adultos con educación secundaria o inferior.
• Las investigaciones más recientes indican que los obstáculos para mantener un peso saludable o participar en programas de control del peso incluyen lo siguiente: acceso limitado a alimentos saludables, falta de tiempo para cocinar y realizar actividad física con regularidad, limitaciones económicas, como la falta de seguro de salud, y el estigma con relación al peso corporal.
• De acuerdo con la nueva declaración científica, los programas para la prevención y el tratamiento eficaces de la obesidad incluyen la colaboración entre el Gobierno, los profesionales de la salud, las organizaciones comunitarias y las personas.

Prohibida su divulgación hasta las 4:00 a. m., CT/5:00 a. m., ET del jueves 15 de enero del 2026

DALLAS, 15 de enero del 2026 — Es más probable que los obstáculos para prevenir y tratar la obesidad, como el acceso limitado a alimentos saludables, el tiempo limitado para cocinar y ejercitarse, factores del entorno, el estigma del peso y las limitaciones económicas, afecten a personas de las comunidades con ingresos más bajos, según una nueva declaración científica de la American Heart Association (la Asociación Americana del Corazón) publicada hoy en la revista profesional insignia de la Asociación, Circulation.

En la declaración, “Obstáculos estructurales y socioeconómicos para abordar la obesidad en las comunidades”, se destacan los obstáculos en múltiples niveles de la prevención y el control de la obesidad, con énfasis en los factores sociales de la salud, la cultura social y los sesgos que pueden perpetuar actitudes dañinas en torno al peso corporal y dificultar el éxito de los programas de control del peso.

La obesidad es una afección médica crónica que se caracteriza por el exceso de grasa corporal que se asocia con daños a la salud. Esta afecta a más de un tercio de todas las personas en EE. UU., tanto a niños como a adultos, en todos los niveles socioeconómicos. Si bien los factores genéticos pueden contribuir a la aparición de la obesidad, estudios anteriores han demostrado que la predisposición genética no es el factor principal de las tasas altas de obesidad. Las personas de comunidades con menos ingresos se encuentran desproporcionadamente afectadas por la obesidad y afecciones médicas relacionadas, como presión arterial alta , enfermedades cardiovasculares (sitio web en inglés) y diabetes tipo 2 (sitio web en inglés).

“Las últimas investigaciones indican que las personas con menores ingresos tienen mayor probabilidad de padecer obesidad debido a una combinación de factores que influyen en sus experiencias cotidianas, como factores estresantes socioeconómicos que limitan el acceso a alimentos nutritivos, a la actividad física regular o a un sueño saludable, además de factores culturales que dificultan el acceso a la atención para la obesidad y al mantenimiento de un peso saludable”, comentó Fatima Cody Standford, M.D., M.P.H., M.P.A., M.B.A., FAHA, vicepresidenta del grupo de redacción de declaraciones científicas, profesora adjunta de medicina y pediatría, además de científica médica en medicina de la obesidad en el Massachusetts General Hospital y en la Facultad de Medicina de Harvard, ambos en Boston.

“Debemos reconocer que la obesidad no es una decisión personal. Está altamente influenciada por múltiples factores sociales y del entorno. Este es un componente fundamental para abordar la epidemia de obesidad en EE. UU. y las afecciones médicas relacionadas con la obesidad, incluidas las enfermedades cardiovasculares”, mencionó Stanford.

Prevalencia de la obesidad y factores de riesgo

Existen numerosos factores socioeconómicos que están estrechamente relacionados con la obesidad. El riesgo y la prevalencia de la obesidad son mayores entre los niños y adultos de raza negra no hispanos, familias con bajos ingresos, personas que viven en áreas rurales y adultos con educación secundaria o inferior. Vivir en un vecindario donde es seguro realizar ejercicio al aire libre y poder acceder a alimentos saludables y asequibles se asocia con un menor riesgo de padecer obesidad.

El estilo de vida y los factores del entorno, incluidos los turnos de trabajo, la contaminación acústica y la exposición nocturna a la luz, pueden aumentar este riesgo, ya que interfieren en los ritmos circadianos y afectan la calidad y duración del sueño. En una declaración científica sobre la salud circadiana (sitio web en inglés) de la American Heart Association en el 2025, se destacó que las disrupciones en el reloj interno del cuerpo están muy relacionadas con un aumento del riesgo de padecer obesidad, diabetes tipo 2, presión arterial alta y enfermedades cardiovasculares.

Obstáculos para buscar y acceder a la atención

A pesar de la gran disponibilidad de opciones de tratamiento para la obesidad, incluidos los programas de control del peso enfocados en cambios en el estilo de vida y los medicamentos, como los agonistas del receptor de GLP-1, todavía existen desafíos importantes para tratar la obesidad de manera eficaz.

• El estigma del peso perpetúa actitudes dañinas: investigaciones anteriores demostraron que entre el 20% y el 90% de las personas tienen opiniones negativas y prejuiciosas sobre las personas con sobrepeso, como que la obesidad es una decisión personal de estilo de vida o que es un reflejo de falta de autocontrol. Estas percepciones pueden contribuir a una mala salud mental, así como también a conductas alimentarias poco saludables. Las experiencias estigmatizadoras relacionadas con el peso también pueden aumentar la probabilidad de que las personas eviten buscar atención de salud y apoyo por parte de profesionales de la salud.

• Las personas con obesidad enfrentan desafíos físicos y financieros en el sistema de cuidados de salud: los obstáculos físicos, como equipos médicos o espacios reducidos, a menudo desmotivan a las personas con obesidad de buscar cuidados médicos para ayudarlos a controlar su peso. Otros obstáculos en el acceso a la atención para la obesidad incluyen el costo de los copagos o de otros gastos de bolsillo, las dificultades con los medios de transporte y las limitaciones en la cobertura del seguro médico.

• El tiempo a menudo es un obstáculo que se pasa por alto: el tiempo limitado afecta directamente la capacidad de las personas para participar en programas de prevención y tratamiento de la obesidad. Además, las responsabilidades laborales y como cuidador suelen priorizarse para mantener la estabilidad financiera y del hogar; por lo tanto, se reduce la cantidad de tiempo disponible para sostener conductas de estilo de vida saludable, como preparar comidas saludables en casa y realizar actividad física de manera regular.

Es necesario un enfoque integral

Los tratamientos eficaces para la prevención y el tratamiento de la obesidad incluyen la colaboración entre el Gobierno, los profesionales de la salud, las organizaciones comunitarias y las personas. Las intervenciones basadas en la comunidad, como programas religiosos y culturales, son eficaces y pueden mejorar los resultados en distintas poblaciones. Sin embargo, la declaración señala que las métricas disponibles para evaluar el éxito de las intervenciones, como el índice de masa corporal (IMC), no reflejan adecuadamente la grasa corporal ni la salud general. Será necesario elaborar métricas clínicamente más significativas con el fin de avanzar en los esfuerzos por reducir las tasas de obesidad y promover un peso saludable para las personas de todas las edades.

Además, los profesionales de la salud pueden generar un impacto importante mediante el inicio de conversaciones culturalmente sensibles con los pacientes respecto a sus creencias sobre el peso y la atención. Asimismo, pueden ofrecer derivaciones a recursos locales y entregar atención personalizada para apoyar a los pacientes. Educar a los profesionales de la salud sobre los sesgos también puede ayudar a reducir el estigma del peso en contextos de cuidados de salud.

“Los programas de control del peso más eficaces consideran factores culturales y sociales, y contemplan la participación de actores de distintos niveles de la sociedad que trabajen en conjunto para apoyar a las personas en riesgo de obesidad o que la padecen. Mejorar la asequibilidad de frutas y verduras propias de las dietas culturales, aumentar el acceso a programas de control saludable del peso, fomentar la actividad física y abogar por políticas públicas, como la cobertura de medicamentos para la obesidad, son estrategias claves que podrían tener un gran impacto a nivel social”, expresó Standford.

El grupo voluntario de redacción preparó esta declaración científica en nombre del Consejo de Estilos de Vida y Salud Cardiometabólica; el Consejo de Enfermería Cardiovascular y de Ataques o Derrames Cerebrales; el Consejo de Cardiología Clínica; el Consejo de Calidad de la Atención e Investigación de Resultados de la American Heart Association.

Las declaraciones científicas de la American Heart Association promueven una mayor conciencia sobre los problemas causados por las enfermedades cardiovasculares y los ataques o derrames cerebrales, y ayudan a facilitar las decisiones fundamentadas sobre los cuidados de salud. En las declaraciones científicas, se describe lo que se conoce actualmente sobre un tema y las áreas que necesitan investigación adicional. Si bien en las declaraciones científicas se informa el desarrollo de las pautas, no constituyen recomendaciones de tratamiento. Las pautas de la American Heart Association proporcionan las recomendaciones oficiales de la práctica clínica de la Asociación.

Entre los miembros adicionales del grupo de redacción/coautores de la declaración científica se incluyen Presidenta Stephanie T. Chung, M.B.B.S., FAHA; Josephine Harrington, M.D.; Namratha R. Kandula, M.D., M.P.H.; Kiarri N. Kershaw, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAHA; Morgana Mongraw-Chaffin, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAHA; Foster Osei Baah, Ph.D., R.N.; Angela F. Pfammatter, Ph.D., FAHA; y Michael V. Stanton, Ph.D. Las declaraciones de los autores se encuentran en el artículo.

La Asociación recibe más de un 85% de sus ingresos de fuentes ajenas a empresas. Estas fuentes incluyen contribuciones de personas particulares, fundaciones y patrimonios, así como ganancias por inversiones e ingresos por la venta de nuestros materiales informativos. Las empresas (incluidas las farmacéuticas, los fabricantes de dispositivos y otras compañías) también realizan donaciones a la Asociación. La Asociación tiene políticas estrictas para evitar que las donaciones influyan en el contenido científico y en las posturas de sus políticas. La información financiera general está disponible aquí (sitio web en inglés).

Recursos adicionales:

• Los recursos multimedia disponibles se encuentran en la columna derecha del vínculo de la publicación.
• Comunicado de prensa en inglés
• Después del 15 de enero del 2026, puede consultar el artículo en línea (sitio web en inglés)
• Comunicado de prensa sobre las declaraciones científicas de la American Heart Association: Brechas importantes entre la ciencia de la obesidad y la atención que reciben los pacientes (sitio web en inglés) (mayo del 2024)
• Información de salud de la American Heart Association: Información sobre el peso (sitio web en inglés)
• Información de salud de la American Heart Association: Alimentación saludable 
• Información de salud de la American Heart Association: Reducir de peso 
• Siga las noticias de la American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (la Asociación Americana del Derrame Cerebral) en X @HeartNews (sitio web en inglés)
• Siga las noticias de la revista médica insignia de la AHA, Circulation @CircAHA (sitio web en inglés)

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Acerca de la American Heart Association

La American Heart Association es una fuerza incansable para un mundo de vidas más largas y saludables. La organización ha sido una fuente líder de información sobre salud durante más de cien años y su objetivo es garantizar la equidad en la salud en todas las comunidades. Con el apoyo de más de 35 millones de voluntarios en todo el mundo, financiamos investigaciones vanguardistas, defendemos la salud pública y proporcionamos recursos fundamentales para salvar y mejorar vidas afectadas por enfermedades cardiovasculares y ataques o derrames cerebrales. Trabajamos incansablemente para hacer avanzar la salud y transformar vidas cada día mediante el impulso de avances y la implementación de soluciones comprobadas en las áreas de ciencia, políticas y cuidados.  Comuníquese con nosotros en heart.org (sitio web en inglés), Facebook o X, o llame al 1-800-AHA-USA1.

Para consultas de los medios de comunicación: 214-706-1173

Amanda Ebert: Amanda.Ebert@heart.org

Para consultas públicas: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org (sitio web en inglés) y derramecerebral.org

Research Highlights:

• The risk of pregnancy-related high blood pressure varied markedly among people of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent, according to an analysis of California health records.
• Pacific Islander and Filipino individuals were at two to three times higher risk than Chinese individuals, after adjusting for other factors.
• Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese individuals were generally at lowest risk.

Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

DALLAS, Jan. 14, 2026 — The risk of pregnancy-related high blood pressure varied markedly among subgroups of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people, highlighting the need for tailored prevention and treatment, according to research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

“There are known ways to help prevent and treat high blood pressure during pregnancy. Our findings can help health care professionals identify those who are at higher risk,” said study lead author Jennifer Soh, M.S., who was a master’s student in Community Health and Prevention Research Program at Stanford University School of Medicine when she conducted the study. “Early identification and treatment can help prevent serious, downstream complications for both the pregnant individuals and their infants.”

Pregnancy-related high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and is one of the leading causes of maternal illness and death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the United States, about 1 in 7 pregnancies are affected by a high blood pressure-related condition during pregnancy. These conditions can be managed and treated with medication or lifestyle changes, according to the  American Heart Association.

Previous research has indicated that the risk of developing pregnancy-related high blood pressure differs among people of different races and ethnicities due to social determinants of health. Yet little is known about differences in risk between Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations as they are often studied together, despite the diversity found within these groups.

To understand the risk by race and ethnicity, researchers in this study analyzed the risks of five hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in individuals of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent. The conditions included chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension (high blood pressure during pregnancy), preeclampsia, eclampsia and chronic hypertension with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is high blood pressure during pregnancy characterized by too much protein in the urine or other signs of organ damage. Eclampsia is a serious complication of preeclampsia that can cause seizures.

The analysis found:

• The lowest frequency of pregnancy-related high blood pressure was found in the Chinese subgroup at 3.7%, while the Guamanian subgroup had the highest frequency at 13%.
• Using the Chinese population as the reference point, the risk of the pregnancy-related high blood pressure conditions was elevated (two- to three-times higher) among Filipino and Pacific Islander populations: Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan and other Pacific Islander individuals, after adjusting for a variety of sociodemographic and maternal-health related factors.
• Only Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese individuals tended to have risks that were not elevated compared to the Chinese reference group.

“The observed racial-ethnic differences in risk highlight the variation in lived experiences of the individuals included in this study,” Soh said. “Future studies should examine more structural and social factors that could help explain the differences in the elevated risks found in this study.”

The study had several limitations. It relied on medical diagnostic codes, which may be subject to underreporting or misclassification; the data only included individuals in California, so the results may not apply to other people living in different communities; and the study could not account for the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, since the pandemic began after the study period. Finally, the study could not consider additional potential, yet important, factors that may impact high blood pressure during pregnancy, such as air pollution, neighborhood walkability and food access.

Study details, background and design:

• Researchers reviewed records from 2007-2019 from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information for 772,688 pregnant individuals who self-reported that they were of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent, and they were divided into 15 subgroups: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Laotian, Hmong, Indian, Filipino, Other Asian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan and Other Pacific Islander.
• The average age of individuals included in the study was 32 years.
• Researchers reviewed infant and fetal birth and death certificates linked to maternal hospital discharge records for each of the five hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
• The researchers used statistical tools to determine the relative risks of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy within each subgroup.

Co-authors, disclosures and funding sources are listed in the manuscript.

Studies published in the American Heart Association’s scientific journals are peer-reviewed. The statements and conclusions in each manuscript are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the Association’s policy or position. The Association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The Association receives more than 85% of its revenue from sources other than corporations. These sources include contributions from individuals, foundations and estates, as well as investment earnings and revenue from the sale of our educational materials. Corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations to the Association. The Association has strict policies to prevent any donations from influencing its science content and policy positions. Overall financial information is available here.

Additional Resources:

• Multimedia is available on the right column of release link.
• After Jan. 14, 2026, view the manuscript online.
• American Heart Association health information: Pregnancy and Maternal Health
• American Heart Association news release: New high blood pressure guideline emphasizes prevention, early treatment to reduce CVD risk (Aug. 2025)
• American Heart Association news release: National Preeclampsia Awareness Month recognized with special issue of Hypertension journal (April 2025)
• American Heart Association news release: Chronic high blood pressure during pregnancy doubled between 2008 and 2021 in the U.S. (June 2024)
• American Heart Association news release: Personalized screening early in pregnancy may improve preeclampsia detection (May 2024)
• Follow American Heart Association/American Stroke Association news on X @HeartNews
• Follow news from the Journal of the American Heart Association @JAHA_AHA

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About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. Dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities, the organization has been a leading source of health information for more than one hundred years. Supported by more than 35 million volunteers globally, we fund groundbreaking research, advocate for the public’s health, and provide critical resources to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke. By driving breakthroughs and implementing proven solutions in science, policy, and care, we work tirelessly to advance health and transform lives every day. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, X or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

For Media Inquiries and American Heart Association Expert Perspective: 214-706-1173

Bridgette McNeill: Bridgette.McNeill@heart.org

For Public Inquiries: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and stroke.org