TY - JOUR
T1 - Future of Families
T2 - Cardiovascular Health Among Young Adults Cohort Study: Rationale, Key Questions, Study Design, and Participant Characteristics
AU - Lloyd-Jones, Donald M.
AU - Allen, Norrina B.
AU - Stein, James
AU - Ning, Hongyan
AU - Hansen, Kristin
AU - Hou, Lifang
AU - Katchur, Nicole J.
AU - Korcarz, Claudia
AU - Kotenko, Iulia
AU - Little, Shantelle
AU - Mitchell, Colter
AU - Rooney, Jessica
AU - Savas, Hacer
AU - Schneper, Lisa
AU - Tawa, Elisabeth
AU - Van Horn, Linda
AU - Zheng, Yinan
AU - Tracy, Russell
AU - Goldman, Noreen
AU - Notterman, Daniel A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
PY - 2025/8/29
Y1 - 2025/8/29
N2 - BACKGROUND: Childhood social determinants of adult cardiovascular health and potential mechanisms that link them are poorly understood. The FF-CHAYA (Future of Families–Cardiovascular Health Among Young Adults) study is designed to address these knowledge gaps. METHODS: The FF-CHAYA sample is a subcohort of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which enrolled 4897 mother–baby dyads at delivery beginning in 1998 to 2000 and collected extensive data on neighborhood, family, school, and behavioral exposures at birth and offspring ages 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, and 22years. From 2021 to 2023, we performed an in-person examination on 1421 offspring, including obtaining questionnaire responses addressing health status and health behaviors, and performance of anthropometry, blood pressure measurement, phlebotomy, and carotid ultrasonography using standardized protocols. An additional 620 offspring answered questionnaires electronically. Cardiovascular health status was quantified using the Life’s Essential 8 score (0–100; higher is better cardiovascular health). Measurement of carotid intima-media thickness, grayscale lucency, and carotid distensibility was performed. RESULTS: Among 1975 nonpregnant participants, mean age was 23.2±0.8years, 55% identified as female, 19.5% White, 49.1% Black, 26.7% Hispanic, and 4.7% as Asian or multiple race/ethnicity. Mean body mass index was 29.0±8.2 kg/m2, and mean Life’s Essential 8 score was 69.2±13.0 points, with significant variation by demographic groups. Carotid measures indicate accelerated early arterial injury. CONCLUSIONS: This article describes the rationale, study design and methods, and characteristics of the FF-CHAYA cohort, a novel longitudinal study designed to examine associations of childhood social determinants with young adult cardiovascular health and early arterial injury, as well as potential epigenetic mechanisms that may mediate these associations.
AB - BACKGROUND: Childhood social determinants of adult cardiovascular health and potential mechanisms that link them are poorly understood. The FF-CHAYA (Future of Families–Cardiovascular Health Among Young Adults) study is designed to address these knowledge gaps. METHODS: The FF-CHAYA sample is a subcohort of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which enrolled 4897 mother–baby dyads at delivery beginning in 1998 to 2000 and collected extensive data on neighborhood, family, school, and behavioral exposures at birth and offspring ages 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, and 22years. From 2021 to 2023, we performed an in-person examination on 1421 offspring, including obtaining questionnaire responses addressing health status and health behaviors, and performance of anthropometry, blood pressure measurement, phlebotomy, and carotid ultrasonography using standardized protocols. An additional 620 offspring answered questionnaires electronically. Cardiovascular health status was quantified using the Life’s Essential 8 score (0–100; higher is better cardiovascular health). Measurement of carotid intima-media thickness, grayscale lucency, and carotid distensibility was performed. RESULTS: Among 1975 nonpregnant participants, mean age was 23.2±0.8years, 55% identified as female, 19.5% White, 49.1% Black, 26.7% Hispanic, and 4.7% as Asian or multiple race/ethnicity. Mean body mass index was 29.0±8.2 kg/m2, and mean Life’s Essential 8 score was 69.2±13.0 points, with significant variation by demographic groups. Carotid measures indicate accelerated early arterial injury. CONCLUSIONS: This article describes the rationale, study design and methods, and characteristics of the FF-CHAYA cohort, a novel longitudinal study designed to examine associations of childhood social determinants with young adult cardiovascular health and early arterial injury, as well as potential epigenetic mechanisms that may mediate these associations.
KW - cardiovascular health
KW - carotid ultrasound
KW - epigenetics
KW - social determinants
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015707428
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015707428#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1161/JAHA.125.042030
DO - 10.1161/JAHA.125.042030
M3 - Article
C2 - 40878990
AN - SCOPUS:105015707428
SN - 2047-9980
VL - 14
JO - Journal of the American Heart Association
JF - Journal of the American Heart Association
IS - 17
M1 - e042030
ER -