Safeguard Your Family Against Heart Disease

People who want to help prevent heart disease in their families need to think about their children, their spouses and themselves. Here are some tips:

• Heart disease can start as early as childhood, and being overweight is a risk factor. To help your children lose weight or stay lean, encourage them to be active. Experts say most children should get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. And teach them to eat moderate portions and choose healthy snacks such as dried fruit and yogurt.
• Make sure your spouse has been to the doctor recently to get his or her blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart risk factors checked. They may need to see the doctor every year, or more or less often, depending on their health, age and lifestyle. You can also help them pay attention to their fat intake. Eating too much saturated fat raises the risk for heart disease.
• Talk to your doctor about your specific risks for heart disease. And don’t forget that adults need exercise, too. You and your spouse should get at least 30 minutes of aerobic physical activity a day, five days a week.

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