Health in the Highlands
Your Appalachian Guide to Healthy Living
3 Ways for Your Family to be Heart Healthy
February is American Heart Month, a month to raise awareness for heart disease in the United States. Heart disease may be prevented, but the choices we make as individuals often dictate our level of risk. According to the CDC, heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States since the 1950s. Simple lifestyle choices combats heart disease so that you can spend more time doing the things that you love with the ones you love.
Here are three ways families can get a start for a healthier tomorrow:
1. Family Activity
Family activity is essential to a healthier heart. Help your heart stay active with
30-60 minutes of daily activity after work or school. Think of the heart like a bicep.
It needs to be exercised regularly to become stronger. Breaking a sweat and increasing
your heart rate is the key to strengthening your heart, and doing it together as a
family makes it all the more fun.
Avoid the couch! It can be tempting after work to get changed, kick up your feet and turn on the television. Creating habits that can promote a healthy heart not only helps you achieve your own health goals, but it will also instill healthy habits in your children that they will carry into adulthood.
Heart healthy family activities:
- Light exercise (i.e., walking around a neighborhood)
- Playing in the yard
- Visit a park
- Biking
- Hiking
- Sports (i.e., shooting hoops, tossing a baseball, softball or football, or kicking a soccer ball)
The heart's main priority is to pump blood through the circulatory system, making
it the most vital muscle in the human body. Exercise is just one of the many ways
to experience more health benefits throughout our lives.
2. Cooking a Healthy New Meal
Try new foods! You just might enjoy them. Have a weekly family meeting to decide what
healthy meals everyone might enjoy, and pick them out together. Including your children
makes this fun and exciting for them, and it allows you to spend quality time with
your family. Choose from heart healthy meals that are rich in protein, have green
vegetables and are low in fat. Lastly, eat together at the dinner table, have a few
laughs and enjoy.
3. Accountability & Support
We get it, a burger and fries can be quite tempting. Having a cheat meal every now and then is usually not harmful, but it’s important to not form bad habits. A family that holds one another accountable can ensure a heart healthy family. When one family member indulges, it's easy for the dominos to fall, and that is why accountability is an important aspect. Family members must support and entrust each other to make heart conscious decisions.
Challenge friends and family outside of your immediate household to be heart healthy
with you. Develop a little friendly competition! There can be fun in being heart healthy.
Making heart conscious decisions as a family may lower the overall risk of heart disease. By doing these few things with your family, you can have peace of mind knowing you’re making the right choices for better health.
CDC: Know Your Risk Heart Month Toolkit