Unhealthy diets, smoking and physical inactivity are the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases. These unhealthy lifestyles are more and more frequently acquired at an early age.
According to the World Heart Federation (WHF) overweight children are three to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke before they reach 65 than slimmer youngsters. The Federation issued this warning as part of its World Heart Day celebration on September 26 of this year. Unhealthy lifestyles including high-calorie diets, little exercise and hours spent in front of the television or computer are contributing to an increase in childhood obesity. The WHF hopes that by making parents aware of the role that poor diet and lack of exercise in youth contribute to heart disease, they will be shocked into doing something about.
In addition, Italian and U.S. researchers reported that obese children as young as 7 already have the beginnings of artery disease. They found signs that the carotid arteries of 100 obese children were already becoming thick and stiff, and indications that the children may have a higher risk of diabetes. In adults, arterial thickening has been shown to be a precursor of arterial narrowing and to predict clinical coronary artery disease. These children also had higher blood pressure and cholesterol and a higher insulin resistance.
An estimated 10 percent of children, 155 million youngsters worldwide (22 million children under 5 years old), are overweight or obese. The Federation stresses the need to protect children from an environment that leads to heart disease by teaching life-long health eating habits and limiting consumption of unhealthy food. Parents and children and adolescents need to realize that the habits adopted at a young age can lead to health problems in adulthood.
The American Heart Association's recommendations for reaching and maintaining an appropriate body weight in children focus on small but permanent changes in eating which may work better than short-term changes that can't be sustained. Reducing dietary fat is the easiest change. Highly restrictive diets that forbid favorite foods are more likely to fail. Increased exercise is a common component in all studies of successful weight reduction. Parents should create an environment that fosters physical activity. The involvement of parents in modifying overweight children's behavior is essential. Parents who practice healthy eating and activity can positively influence their children's health.
This campaign is not limited just to changing children's eating habits, activities and exercise at home. Schools are becoming less healthy environments; they are not protecting our children from unhealthy food and not even offering healthy food choices. And, they are not offering enough physical activity. Parents can and should pressure the policy makers in schools to make the necessary changes in the food offered in cafeterias and sold in vending machines and in the amount of physical activity offered to students.
Tobacco is also threatening the health of children's hearts. Nearly 25 percent of students worldwide smoke. Fifty percent of children are subjected to passive smoking by living with a smoker. Children regularly exposed to second-hand smoke have a 25 percent increased risk of both heart disease and an 80 percent increased risk of stroke.
For additional information:
The World Heart Federation, www.worldheart.org
The American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org