Childhood Obesity and Heart Health
So much of what we know about children's health has changed over the last few years. We have seen a dramatic rise in diseases associated with childhood obesity. Much of what we have grown up thinking about obesity focused on adult Medicine. We have had a tendency to not worry about overweight children because we were all led to believe that these children would simply outgrow their baby fat, with no residual health concerns. Most parents still believe their children's excess weight will magically melt away when they get to school. But with the lack of exercise, no play time or physical education, poor nutrition, and a sedentary lifestyle, children are remaining obese into adulthood. Recent research has shown the longer a child stays outside the healthy norm (high BMI) for weight, the more likely they will suffer a negative impact on their health from being obese. We now know the damaging effect of obesity on an individual's health starts sooner rather than later. Your child's diet, habits, level of activity, and family history all are integral parts of heart health. While we continue to give quite a bit of credit to our family's genetic history, we must include lifestyle and cultural habits as an important contributor to our family's heart health history. We are not powerless with this history. Whatever the age, we can make a difference in the health of our children's heart. Heart ...
Posted in: Your Heart
