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Healthy Hearts for Children

© Karen Cabiac

I work with children. I feel that it is important to provide them with opportunities to not only prepare for their upcoming school years but also to make them aware of themselves and the world around them. I have worked in areas where I have had children from diverse cultures in my classroom. For this reason I try to make all activities pertain to everyone rather than keep to "traditional" activities. So, for the month of February, while everyone is cutting and pasting hearts and lace and preparing for a party stocked with cupcakes and candy, my class is jumping, running, resting, and listening to their heart. In my classroom I have a stethoscope and allow the children to listen to their hearts beating. They really get a big kick out of this.

It is important to emphasize healthy habits when children are young so that it becomes "ingrained". We know that children are in danger of becoming "couch potatoes" and developing high cholesterol and heart disease. Studies have shown also that children whose parents are overweight are more likely to become overweight themselves. This can be attributed to children learning poor habits from their parents and possibly there may be some genetic tendency toward weight gain. What a wonderful way to spend time together as a family - exercising!

All of you out there who are smokers - uh oh. Do you know that you are putting your children at risk? Second hand smoke, according to the American Heart Association, lowers the HDL level in children (that's the good cholesterol). Therefore, adding another risk factor to developing heart disease. Do yourself and your child a favor QUIT. If you just can't quit at least do not smoke around your children, do not even smoke in the house. Of course, smoking also puts your children at risk for other diseases such as asthma, and bronchitis.

Unfortunately, there are times when children are born with heart disease. This is taxing on a family. There is an excellent site I would like to recommend for those who are searching either for information or are in need of support due to a child having Congenital Heart Disease it is http://www.tchin.org. This site is easy to navigate and has information and help divided into easy to use categories.

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