The six cardiologists who founded the American Heart Association in 1924 would be amazed today. From humble beginnings, the American Heart Association (AHA) has grown into the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting the nation’s and New Mexico’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers – heart disease and stroke. 

To date, 55 research grants worth $7.3 million have been awarded in New Mexico.

But there’s still work to do. 

Through the collection of shared data and candid feedback from community stakeholders, the AHA of New Mexico has pinpointed three main areas of community improvement: controlling blood pressure, decreasing nutrition insecurity and eliminating the usage of tobacco and e-cigarettes. 

New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the country with 18.7% of adults living below the poverty level. This leads to many negative consequences, including health outcomes. A prime example of this is limited access to healthcare and the ability to check blood pressure. The AHA plans to work with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Albuquerque, Fort Sumner and Portales to address blood pressure, and to expand care to formally integrate lifestyle modification referrals, prescriptions, or interventions of protocols. 

Nutrition insecurity is another issue. The USDA estimates that as of 2017, 326,000 people, including over 118,00 children in New Mexico are food insecure. Adults in food insecure households are much more likely to have hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems. Children in food insecure households are more vulnerable to potential long-term consequences for their future physical and mental health as well as academic achievement. 

According to the New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, Hispanic youth (34.7%) use e-cigarettes and other tobacco products at higher rates than white youth (32.6%). This is a concern in NM for close to half (47.8%) of the population is Hispanic. 

The AHA of New Mexico is working alongside Espanola Public Schools to address nutrition insecurity and tobacco and e-cigarette use, through policy, system, and environmental change plans. One such policy is ensuring clean water at no cost is accessible during the school day and extended hours while children are in school buildings. To prevent and control tobacco and e-cigarette use, the AHA will enact legislation that repeals tobacco preemption, and increase taxes on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. School districts will also update tobacco and vaping policies to align with AHA guidance.