Kids’ HEART HEALTH Starts at Home Just the Facts, Ma’am BY AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS
The road to cardiovascular disease begins in childhood, and it’s a road many American children are on, based on a new report from the American Heart Association that indicates very few kids meet all the criteria for ideal heart health. Many are overweight or obese. Others don’t get enough exercise or have picked up smoking. But the biggest disqualifying factor was diet: Less than 1 percent of children ages 2 to 19 meet the criteria for an ideal diet, according to federal data from 2007 to 2008. That troubling reality led the AHA to issue a scientific statement that provides the first detailed look at ideal heart health for kids: No tobacco use, a healthy weight, at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, a healthy diet score and normal blood pressure, total cholesterol and blood sugar. Among the data compiled in the statement, about 91 percent of children have poor diets, with most calories coming from simple carbohydrates, such as sugary desserts and drinks. Among 6- to 11-year-olds, only half of boys and about one-third of girls got at least one hour of exercise each day. Even fewer teens got enough exercise.
Challenges to help your family get healthier together. For the first Family Health Challenge— “Movement is Why”—Forsyth families are encouraged to plan and participate in activities that get the family up and moving more in fun ways. Then on a simple online form, families will share what they have done to get more exercise together and how they made it fun. They will also describe how getting more active as a family has improved and/or changed their family’s health and strengthened their relationships. For the first Family Health Challenge, Forsyth families that participate will be entered to win a kayaking adventure on the Haw River and a three-month Family Membership at the Gateway YWCA. Visit www.NovantHealth.org/LifeIsWhy for healthy family tips and to get started today! MAKE YOUR PLAN & MAKE IT FUN: Whether you’re a single parent or married, a stay-at-home parent or working, here are ways to make more time for the whole family to be more heart-healthy:
school. Make physical activity a regular part of your family’s schedule. Write it on a weekly calendar for the whole family. 3. Take baby steps, not giant leaps. If you’re the head of your household, making sure that all the heads and hearts in your home are healthy is a lot to handle. The key is to take baby steps. Getting heart-healthy is a journey; you don’t have to do everything at once. 4. Limit TV, computer, video-game time. Don’t position your furniture so the TV is the main focus of the room. Remove televisions from bedrooms. And remember to avoid using TV as a reward or punishment. 5. Be active with your kids. Experts say that what kids want more than anything else is time with their parents. To give them that, don’t just send them out to play—go play with them! 6. Most importantly—MAKE IT FUN! Here are just a few ideas: • a family game night out in the back yard • shooting some hoops after dinner
It starts at home. It starts with families. Forsyth Families Can Get Healthier Together!
1. Identify free times for activity. Pick two 30-minute and two 60-minute time slots for family activity time. Weekdays are usually better for 30-minute activities and weekends are better for 60-minute activities.
Novant Health and the American Heart Association want to celebrate Forsyth County families! Families can take part in the first of four quarterly Family Health
2. Make it a plan to add physical activity to your daily routine. Be prepared to offer alternative age-appropriate activities to TV or video games after
• exercise challenges/races with silly prizes
THE CHALLENGE BEGINS:
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• walking the dog • exploring a nearby park • turning on the stereo and dancing around the house on a rainy day
• taking turns leading exercise sessions for the family