How to make your home heart-healthy
How to make your home heart-healthy
New Delhi, September 19, 2016: It is World Heart Month and it is important to raise awareness about how we must make our homes heart healthy. Making even just a few changes can help reduce your own and your family’s risk of heart disease and stroke.
Heart disease is reversible if lifestyle modifications are made in a timely manner. Nine potentially modifiable risk factors of heart attacks include smoking, dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, psychosocial factors, regular alcohol consumption, lack of adequate fruits and vegetables in the diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Over 90%, Indians suffer their first heart attack due to one or several of these lifestyle irregularities. Modifying one’s bad habits can go a long way in helping prevent the onset of heart diseases.
Speaking on this topic, Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal, National President Elect – Indian Medical Association (IMA) and President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI). said, “Inculcating heart healthy practices within one’s home can go a long way in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease in India. Children should be taught about the ill effects of smoking, the benefits of consuming a healthy diet and regularly exercising from the very onset. Parents play an extremely important role in influencing the choices their children make in their future. If they regularly smoke at their homes, live high-stress and inactive lives; their children are more likely to do the same.”
A few ways in which each one of us can make their homes heart friendly are:
- Stock your home with healthy food options
- Limit the consumption of junk or pre-packed food that are often high in sugar, fat, and salt
- Incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables in your meals and reduce sweet cravings by swapping sweet treats with mango or other sweet fruits
- Prepare healthy yet creative lunch at home and for your child’s school tiffin
- Ban smoking in your home, this will not only improve your health but also your children’s health and discourage them from picking up the habit in the first place. Quitting smoking is a great way to be a positive role model for your children
- Be active, limit the number of hours spent watching TV or playing games on various electronic gadgets
- Organize outdoor activities such as cycling, hiking or simply playing in the garden
- Recognize your heart attack risk
- Visit a health professional who can measure your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, weight and body mass index, and advise on your risk.
- Once you know your CVD risk, you can make a specific plan to improve your heart health and your healthcare professional can also advise on appropriate treatment options where necessary
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About Heart Care Foundation of India
Initiated in 1986, the Heart Care Foundation of India is a leading National NGO working in the field of creating mass health awareness among people from all walks of life and providing solutions for India’s everyday healthcare needs. The NGO uses consumer-based entertainment modules to impart health education and increase awareness amongst people. A leading example of this is the Perfect Health Mela; an annual event started in 1993 that is attended by over 2-3 lakh people each year. The Mela showcases activities across categories such as health education seminars and check-ups, entertainment programs, lifestyle exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and competitions. In addition to this, the NGO conducts programs and camps to train people on the technique of hands only CPR through its CPR 10 mantra for revival after a sudden cardiac arrest. They currently hold three Limca book of world records for the maximum number of people trained in hands-only CPR in one go. Keeping article 21 of the Indian Constitution in mind, which guarantees a person Right to Life, Heart Care Foundation of India has also recently initiated a project called the Sameer Malik Heart Care Foundation Fund to ensure that no one dies of a heart disease just because they cannot afford treatment.
