by: Darren T. Scoggin, MD – Children’s Medical Group, Jackson, MS
You’re probably familiar with February as being branded a month focused on heart health, but the focus often seems to be on adults while missing an opportunity to send an important message to kids. One of the reasons I love being a pediatrician is that it allows me to see children along the spectrum of development from birth through sending them off to college. In doing so, I have the opportunity to take a long view of health and help families make positive, healthy choices now that can benefit children for the remainder of their lives.
Heart health in adulthood begins in childhood. Patterns of living like exercise, dietary habits, and stress management can be modified as we age, but the effects of negative choices may not always be undone. Children are best poised in life to have positive healthy habits that can make a difference in older age regarding cardiovascular health.
You may feel like your family is stretched so thin, there is no possible way you can make any extra time for exercise or a home-cooked meal through the week. That may be true. But you’d be surprised at the cumulative effect of making one positive change in your routine. For example, if you are working on eating habits with your family but live in a drive-through line, then consider getting a water for everyone instead of sodas or tea or get a baked or grilled option instead of fried. Or, if you are working on increasing physical activity but all your moving is in the vehicle, then try parking at the end of the parking lot when you go to the store or building in an extra 10 minutes for a family walk at the end of the day.
So often, positive healthy changes feel insurmountable in real life. Sure, we’d all like to be eating better and exercising more, but when the rubber meets the road, it’s hard to squeeze anything else in our days. By making small changes to our already-existing routines, we can make measurable changes not only for our heart health as adults, but also for our kids.