American Heart Association (AHA) Definition of Cardiovascular Health Metric (Life's Simple 7)
| Health Factors | Levels | AHA Definition* |
|---|---|---|
| Blood pressure | Ideal | <120/<80 mmHg, without treatment |
| Intermediate | SBP 120–139 or DBP 80–89 mmHg, or treated to <120/<80 mmHg | |
| Poor | SBP ≥140 mmHg or DBP ≥90 mmHg | |
| Fasting serum glucose | Ideal | <100 mg/dL, without treatment |
| Intermediate | 100–125 mg/dL, or treated to <100 mg/dL | |
| Poor | ≥126 mg/dL | |
| Total cholesterol | Ideal | <200 mg/dL, without treatment |
| Intermediate | 200–239 mg/dL, treated to <200 mg dL | |
| Poor | ≥240 mg/dL | |
| Behavioral factors | ||
| Smoking | Ideal | Never or quit >12 months earlier |
| Intermediate | Former (quit ≤12 months earlier) | |
| Poor | Current | |
| Physical activity | Ideal | ≥150 min/week moderate, or ≥75 min/week vigorous, or ≥150 min/week moderate + vigorous |
| Intermediate | 1–149 min/week moderate, or 1–74 min/week vigorous, or 1–149 min/week moderate + vigorous | |
| Poor | None | |
| Healthy weight | Ideal | BMI <25 kg/m2 |
| Intermediate | BMI 25–29.9 kg/m2 | |
| Poor | BMI ≥30 kg/m2 | |
| Healthy diet* | Ideal | 4 or 5 components |
| Intermediate | 2 or 3 components | |
| Poor | 0 or 1 component |
↵* American Heart Association's (AHA's) healthy diet category contains 5 components: consumption of fruits and vegetables (≥4.5 cups/day), fiber-rich whole grain (≥3 1-oz servings/day), sodium (<1500 mg/day), sugar-sweetened beverages (≤36 oz/week), and fish (≥2 3.5-oz servings/week). Our modified healthy diet category also consists of 5 components: consumption of fruits and vegetables (≥4.5 cups/day), fiber-rich whole grain (≥ 3 oz/day), sodium (<2300 mg/day), added sugar (<37.5 g/day for men, <25 g/day for women), and fish (≥2 times/week).
BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure.