Heart Health Starts Early

Since I landed in New York City almost eight years ago, I’ve been volunteering with the New York Junior League (NYJL). Volunteering has always been a big part of my life and I love that the NYJL not only offers an opportunity to volunteer on a committee of my choosing but that I have had the opportunity to enhance my leadership skills, socialize and network with other female professionals in the city and expand my knowledge of pertinent topics related to health and well-being.

To close out February, Heart Health Awareness Month, the NYJL hosted a volunteer training with Dr. Ileana Vargas of Columbia University Medical Center. Her focus was on childhood obesity and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a preventative measure against cancer, two topics I am passionate about.

Obesity has become an epidemic in this country and sadly 1 in 3 children is overweight or obese and in new York State alone, 33 percent of all children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese. Type 2 diabetes used to be an adult disease, but the increase in the disease in children is almost paralleling its occurrence in adults.

These are the sad facts and they bring me to tears.

Unfortunately, Dr. Vargas said, treatment strategies for children can be challenging because it’s hard to get children to choose health over taste.

Consider, for instance, some of the foods that kids love. A 4 ounce bagel is equal to 4 slices of toast, a can of soda has 15 added teaspoons of sugar and some yogurts up t0 17 teaspoons of sugar.

She advocates  nutrition education at the family level and offers these treatment and prevention strategies:

• Promote healthy attitudes toward eating in the home: involve children in food preparation, make mealtimes special and teach children about fruit and vegetables
• Feed children a healthy diet: focus on fresh foods and limit sugary treats
• Encourage activity: limit time in front of the television of computer
• Increase breast-feeding: consider the benefits of breast feeding and if you can do so, choose to.
• Intervene early: starting young creates a lifetime of healthy habits and prevent disease later on