Cardiovascular diseases remain the number one cause of death in the United States, causing more than 900,000 deaths each year. As February marks American Heart Month, the American Heart Association has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage children to take care of their hearts. Promoting healthier lifestyles among young people may translate into improved cardiovascular health as adults. Park and recreation agencies are ideal outlets for providing the type of services and programs essential in helping to combat heart disease.

According to Mary Saunders, M.D., a family practice physician with Capitol Healthcare SC in Springfield and president of the Sangamon County Division of the American Heart Association, recent studies show that 25.8 percent of high school seniors who smoke tried their first cigarette while in the sixth grade. Each day, more than 3,000 American children smoke their first cigarette.

Combined with poor nutrition habits and lack of physical activity, young people in this country are establishing lifestyles that may result in increased number of deaths related to heart disease in the decades to come.

Along with not smoking, children should learn to safeguard their hearts with regular exercise, healthy eating and weight control. Active lifestyles in children promote lower blood pressure, improved psychological well-being and a predisposition to increased physical activity as adults.

Physically active children are also less likely to have weight problems, both now and in the future. People who are more than 30 percent over their ideal weight are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Obesity is linked with heart disease because it influences blood pressure and cholesterol levels which are major risk factors for CVD. Since 1966, there has been a 54 percent increase in the prevalence of obesity among children ages six to 11 years. Obese children are at an increased risk for obesity as adults.

To prevent overweight and obesity, children should learn to follow a diet low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates, in addition to regular exercise. The maintenance of a healthy lifestyle may prevent an excessive increase in weight, sedentary activity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels characteristic of many people in their thirties and forties.

If your agency is interested in receiving further information on American Hearth Month and cardiovascular disease, contact your local American Heart Association affiliate, or call 1-800-AHA-USA1.

Illinois Parks & Recreation * January/February 1994 * 37