Table 1.
Definitions of Life's Simple 7 Poor, Intermediate, and Ideal Health Factors for Adults
| Metric | Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Poor Health | Intermediate Health | Ideal Health | |
| Smoking | Yes | Former ≤12 months | Never or quit >12 months |
| BMI | ≥30 kg/m2 | 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 | <25 kg/m2 |
| Physical activitya | None | 1 to 149 min/week moderate intensity or 1 to 74 min/week vigorous intensity or 1 to 149 min/week moderate+vigorous intensity | ≥150 min/week moderate intensity or ≥75 min/week vigorous intensity or ≥150 min/week moderate+vigorous intensity |
| Healthy diet scoreb | 0 to 1 Components | 2 to 3 Components | 4 to 5 Components |
| Total cholesterol | ≥240 mg/dL | 200 to 239 mg/dL or treated to the goal of <200 mg/dL | <200 mg/dL |
| Blood pressure | SBP ≥140 or DBP ≥90 mm Hg | SBP 120 to 139 or DBP 80 to 89 mm Hg or treated to the goal of a SBP <120 mm Hg and a DBP <80 mm Hg | SBP <120 mm Hg and DBP <80 mm Hg |
| Fasting glucose | ≥126 mg/dL | 100 to 125 mg/dL or treated to the goal of <100 mg/dL | <100 mg/dL |
BMI indicates body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure.
Modified for the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. Participants in REGARDS were asked “How many times per week do you engage in intense physical activity, enough to work up a sweat?” We defined ideal physical activity as a frequency of 4 or more times per week, intermediate as 1 to 3 times per week, and poor as none.
Modified for REGARDS. Responses to the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire were used for the “healthy diet score” that is based on how many components of the 5 diet goals are met. Fruits and vegetables ≥4.5 cups/day; fish 3.5 ounces ≥2 servings/week; sodium <1500 mg/day; sweets/sugar‐sweetened beverages ≤450 kcal/week; whole grains (1.1 g of fiber in 10 g of carbohydrates), 1‐oz equivalent servings ≥3 servings/day.