Sedentary lifestyle and state variation in coronary heart disease mortality

Using linear regression, the authors demonstrated a strong association between State-specific coronary heart disease mortality rates and State prevalence of sedentary lifestyle (r2 = 0.34; P = 0.0002) that remained significant after controlling for the prevalence of diagnosed hypertension, smoking, and overweight among the State's population. This ecologic analysis suggests that sedentary lifestyle may explain State variation in coronary heart disease mortality and reinforces the need to include physical activity promotion as a part of programs in the States to prevent heart disease.