Today, September 29 World Heart Day is celebrated, date designated by the World Heart Federation with the support of WHO and Unesco with the intention of raising awareness about the importance of cardiovascular health care.
It is essential that let's take care of our children's hearts since they are very small, even from the mother's womb, since as you know healthy lifestyle habits such as caring for food and physical activity, they act as a protective shield with cardiovascular diseases.
Childhood obesity is one of the great evils of our time and has a great impact on cardiovascular health. Obese children have a higher risk of hypertension, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and a thickening of the heart muscle, even from an early age.
In fact, it is believed that the impact of childhood obesity is worse than previously thought, and that today's overweight children will be adults with a deeply worrisome cardiovascular risk.
To take care of the heart of our children we must start by offering them a healthy diet, offering whenever possible exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, since it has been shown that infant formulas increase cardiovascular risk in children by 6% and teenagers.
We also protect them by avoiding fats, processed foods, controlling excess salt in meals, as well as instilling regular exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
In childhood, prevention is extremely important as it is when the foundations of lifestyle are established, and of course, parents have a key role in that regard, transmitting healthy habits through the example.
