February is HEART MONTH!!

On average, more than 2200 Americans die of CVD each day, an average of 1 death every 39 seconds. CVD claims more lives each year than cancer, CLRD, and accidents combined.

Did you know that February is Heart month? Heart month is a much needed occasion in our society where 90% of women have at least one risk factor associated with heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. These are staggering numbers and should be taken seriously. It's time to start discussing this chronic disease and begin to fight for you and your family's health. Please continue reading to learn more about the risk factors and statistics associated with heart disease.

RISK FACTORS FOR HEART DISEASE:

- Hypertension

- Diabetes

- Obesity

- MetabolicSyndrome

- High Cholesterol

- Tobacco Use

- Lack of Physical Activity

- Poor Diet

- Stress

- Excessive Alcohol Consumption

THE NUMBERS:

Heart Disease andStroke Statistics—2011 Update: Summary

circ.ahajournals.org February 1, 2011

67.3% of adults who are 20 years of age or older are overweight and obese.

33.7% of USadults are obese (body mass index > 29.5 kg/m2). (Men/women/every race)

31.9% of children ages 2-19 are overweight and obese, and 16.3% are obese.

Over the past 3 decades, the prevalence of obesity in children 6 to 11 years of age has increased from 4% to more than 20%.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing dramatically over time, in parallel with the increases in prevalence of overweight and obesity.

The proportion of youth less than 18 years of age who report engaging in no regular physical activity is high, and the proportion increases with age. In 2007, among adolescents in grades 9 through 12, 29.9% of girls and 17.0% of boys rep

orted that they had not engaged in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, defined as any activity that increased heart rate or breathing rate, even once in the previous 7 days, despite recommendations that children engage in such activity at least 5 days per week.

36% of adults reported engaging in no vigor- ous activity.

Data from NHANES indicate that between1971 and 2004, average total energy consumption among US adults increased by 22% in women (from 1,542 to 1,886 kcal/d) and by 10% in men (from 2,450 to 2,693 kcal/d).

PREVENTION IS KEY:

Limit foods with saturated fats, trans fat and high cholesterol

Increase DAILY physical activity to at least 60 minutes a day

Limit sedentary activities to less than 2 hours a day

Go for annual doctor's appointments and learn your numbers (HDL, LDL, TG, Weight, BMI)

Educate yourself and your family

RESOURCES:

There are many websites available which offer reliable information on heart disease. Please check out the links below. You can take an assessment that will measure your risks. I took it and it was less than 5 minutes. Here is a sample of what the assessment looks like.

Watch this video on how to use the Life Check Assessment:

https://www.heart360.org/VideoTour/Tour.aspx

Life Check link:

http://mylifecheck.heart.org/Default.aspx

For more information on the Statistics above, read this article:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIR.0b013e3182009701

Invest in your life by learning what risk factors you have and educate yourself on fighting against this disease. Help celebrate heart month and tell others about this information!

Happy Heart,

Little Chef-titian