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Surprisingly, only three percent of the U.S. population report having ideal heart health. Also, cardiovascular health differs greatly from state to state. These findings appeared in a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The new study is the first to examine cardiovascular health at the state level. Researchers took data from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a survey conducted by telephone of over 350,000 people in the 50 states and Washington D.C. Information was collected on what the American Heart Association identified as the seven major heart-health factors:

The researchers discovered that the percentage of the U.S. population with best heart health, having ideal levels of all seven factors, was lowest in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia; highest in Vermont, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Just three percent of the total population documented having ideal cardiovascular health. Around 10 percent of the population documented having poor heart health with two or less factors at ideal levels.

Overall, the western and New England states tended to have a higher percentage of people with good cardiovascular health.

Jing Fang, M.D., M.S., an epidemiologist with the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in Atlanta, Ga, says, "Americans reported having on average more than four of the seven risk factors for heart disease. We also found large disparities by age, sex, race/ethnicity and levels of education."

Americans 65 years of age or older reported the lowest percentage of ideal cardiovascular health, while the 35-54 age group documented the highest percentage of ideal cardiovascular health.

Women showed better rates than men. Blacks, Native Americans, and Alaska Natives did poorly on rates of heart health, while whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders reported the best rates. People with higher levels of education documented better health than other groups.

The authors of the report hope that these findings may help encourage those health authorities to set up statewide goals for decreasing risk and improving heart health.

Fang said, "This study gives us important information about the factors and behaviors that need the most improvement in each state to achieve the American Heart Association's goal of improving cardiovascular health for all Americans."

By 2020, the American Heart Association hopes to improve the heart health of all Americans by 20 percent while decreasing deaths from stroke and cardiovascular diseases by 20 percent.

Donna Arnett, Ph.D., president of the American Heart Association and author of an editorial that accompanies the Fang paper in JAHA concludes:

"The comparisons offered by Fang and colleagues illustrate a critical point: Cardiovascular health status in the United States varies considerably by age, sex, race/ethnicity and education as well as by state. This diversity necessitates that innovative, customized strategies be developed to most effectively improve cardiovascular health for specific states and among subpopulations."