Clevelanders' heart risk ranks higher than national average

Many Cleveland residents like to eat ribs and other red meat, so it's not too surprising that Ohio is lagging behind the other states in several health statistics.

The Ohio Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (HDSP) program has discovered that the Buckeye State trails the national average in the following categories:

- Obesity.
- High blood pressure.
- Cigarette smoking.
- High cholesterol.
- Lack of exercise.
- Diabetes.
- Eating fruits and vegetables fewer than five times per day.

Stroke and heart disease accounted for 31 percent of Ohio deaths in 2006.

Despite this news, HDSP director Barbara Pryor said the situation has improved during the last two decades.

"Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Ohio as it is in the U.S. as a whole; however, these rates have declined by 37 percent since 1990," she said.

In addition to compiling these statistics, the HDSP has to spread the word around the state. To that end, it has published the Burden of Heart Disease, which discusses the risk factors of heart disease, as well as mortality and hospital discharge rates.

Another group that is trying to buck this trend is Healthy Ohio at the Ohio Department of Health; it promotes several programs to help residents quit smoking, eat healthier and exercise more.

If you watched Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" series on ABC-TV, you know that data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated Huntington, W.Va., as the American city with the worst eating habits in the nation.

Cleveland ranked 79th in the survey out of 184 metropolitan areas. Akron placed 90^th and the Canton-Massillon area checked in at No. 101.

Pryor said those rankings are not always reliable.

"There are a lot of rankings that are done by various organizations," she said, "and it's difficult to know the methods each one uses to produce the information."

If you are interested in leading a more heart-healthy lifestyle, the Cleveland Clinic has a Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation Program. Call 216-444-9353 to schedule a nutrition consultation.