Kids Health and Nutrition
Your Child’s Best Valentine: A Healthy Heart
February is American Heart month. It is estimated that 17 percent of U.S. children are obese. Obesity, coupled with a high sodium diet, places children at risk for hypertension and heart disease. Find out how to help your child maintain a healthy heart.
Many people do not realize that children can develop hypertension. Often times there are underlying reasons for children having high blood pressure that are related to kidney disease and other types of medical conditions. I want to address the healthy born child, who is overweight or obese. Children who are overweight or obese have higher blood pressures than most children who are in their appropriate height and weight class. I also know that obese children have approximately a three-fold higher risk for hypertension than non-obese children. This is the first time in American history that our children may have a lesser life expectancy than their parents and it is due to lifestyle issues such as obesity, lack of physical exercise, high fat …
Marilyn Kontrafouris-Eleftheriou RN,MN
12:28 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Read more about obesity in my article date April 13, 2011. The title is Obesity in Children. The topics regarding obesity are broad. It is a national epidemic and it should be taken very seriously. School lunches, school gym classes and health education classes need to modify their outdated practices. Schools and hospitals need to offer community education. Above all of these venues, parents … more ›