Trends between alcohol use, smoking, and sedentary lifestyle on cardiovascular disease risk factors in young adults aged 18-25 from NHANES Dataset

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death worldwide. Despite it affecting  people of all ages, cardiovascular studies among young adults are lacking. While mortality rates may be low for individuals aged 18-25, behavior in early adulthood may leave a lasting impact on future risk of cardiovascular disease. The goal of this paper is to determine the extent to which smoking, drinking alcohol, and having a sedentary lifestyle among young adults demonstrates trends with multiple kinds of cardiovascular risk factors. Specifically, using the 2021-2023 NHANES data set, we examined the relationship between alcohol use, smoking, and sedentary behavior to common cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes, high cholesterol, and blood pressure. We also considered sociodemographic factors such as race and ethnicity, and gender. We found that among individuals with high cholesterol, 4.85% smoked, 4.67% drank, and 4.58% were sedentary for more than eight hours a day. These results illuminate these behaviors as potential risk factors for high cholesterol. The trend of behaviors having a large impact on the cardiovascular risk factors of an individual was followed throughout the data. This information is absolutely vital for young adults, not only to inform, but also to implement into their daily lives. While smoking, drinking, and sitting for long periods of time may not seem destructive at first, this paper shows that these behaviors may be related to cardiovascular disease, with implications for mortality.