3 Simple yet Powerful Habits to Keep Your Kids Heart Healthy: 

 
Obesity, high cholesterol, smoking, and high blood pressure are some of the risk factors that have a direct relationship with the incidence of cardiac diseases that are leading causes of death worldwide. And the seeds of all these problems are sown early in childhood and adolescence owing to the food habits, physical activity and other lifestyle factors of the kids.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle early in childhood is the key to prevent cardiovascular diseases later in childhood. Though most of the adults learn it a bit late, it gives them a perfect opportunity to imbibe a heart-healthy lifestyle at their homes to help lay a strong healthy heart for the kids.

So here are the 3 simple yet powerful health tips that can help your kid lay the foundation for a strong and healthy heart:

•  Engage your kid in physical activity:
  

The heart is a muscle too, more you exercise it, stronger it grows, especially in childhood. And aerobic exercises are the pick of exercises that help the heart strong and healthy. These exercises make your heart beat faster pump your blood throughout the body, helps your lungs draw-in more oxygen in the process, keeping the heart, lungs and blood vessels healthy in the process.

Helping your kids pick aerobic sports that they enjoy can help them lay a foundation for a strong and healthy heart. Jumping rope, running, football, hockey, basketball, swimming, hiking, skiing, gymnastics, karate are some of the sports and games that you can pick from.

• Follow a heart-healthy diet:

Owing to the increased levels of fast-food they consume, today’s children happen to have higher cholesterols than children of the same age in previous generations. These unhealthy food habits enhance the intake of saturated fats and cholesterol levels in the blood gradually increasing the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries).

So what diet is heart-healthy you ask? Just steer clear of the fast food and sugary drinks and go to the basics. The daily menu of your kid must be loaded with vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, fish and low-fat dairy. Limit their intake of sugar, salt and fried foods with bad fats (Trans and saturated fats).

• Limit the screen time of your kids: 

 This must come off as the most surprising heart tip of the lot, but this one is backed by 2 decades of solid research. Kids and teens today spend an average of 6 hours each day on their smartphones, video games, tablets or TV. This accelerated increase in screen time over the past decade has fostered a sedentary lifestyle with decreased physical activity. Add this to the unhealthy food choices, disrupted sleep cycles along the process and everything ramps-up to obesity in children. In short, all the good work you got going for your children can come right off if you do not limit the screen time of your kids every day. So make a few strict amends and see that daily screen time does not exceed 2 hours a day.

The above health tips for healthy heart are three most fundamental tips that can help you keep it simple while making a steady progress. So do Incorporate the above three tips into your kid’s daily routine to lay a strong foundation for a healthy heart and keep your kids heart healthy for years to come.

 

Need more information or got queries regarding heart health? Padma Shri Awardee Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale is the one of the best heart specialists in Telangana who can help you improve your heart health. You can contact him here: