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May 1-2, 2013
HEART & STROKE
HEALTHY LIFE
19
By JENNIFER ANDERSON
Pamplin Media Group
L
anette Day has seen a scary trend de-
velop lately in the world of heart dis-
ease and stroke prevention.
“Some hospitals are now creating
protocols for teenagers presenting symptoms
of heart disease,” says Day, executive director
of the Portland Chapter of the American
Heart Association.
“Before, you’d never see it in kids,” she
says. “Now you have children showing up
obese, with shortness of breath, high blood
pressure, the same symptoms of a heart at-
tack.”
It’s not too much of a surprise, Day says,
since research has shown that the earlier an
individual develops bad habits that lead to
high blood pressure or high cholesterol, the
earlier the chance of developing heart dis-
ease.
The American Heart Association defines
cardiovascular health by seven health behav-
iors and health factors: no smoking, body
mass index, dietary intake, physical activity,
blood pressure, blood glucose, and total cho-
lesterol.
According to a recent AHA study, “The low
prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health be-
haviors in U.S. adolescents, particularly phys-
ical activity and dietary intake, will likely con-
tribute to a worsening prevalence of obesity,
hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and dys-
glycemia as the current U.S. adolescent popu-
lation reaches adulthood.”
The bad news is tinged with a silver lining.
It’s not that complicated to reverse the un-
healthy trend, Day says: “We need to encour-
age kids to eat healthy foods and exercise
more. If you’re able to reverse the trend early
on, it will have a much more long-term effect
than any pill for high blood pressure or cho-
lesterol.”
Less than half of U.S. children are leading
heart-healthy lives, Day says. They consume
too much processed and fast food and drink
too many sugar-sweetened beverages. They
should be filling up on fruits, vegetables and
whole grains.
With that in mind, the board of directors for
the Portland chapter of the heart association
recently identified children’s health through
physical activity and nutrition as its overall
priority.
“We’re now determining how we’re going
to measure improvement,” Day says. At a
board retreat in June, the board members
plan to solidify the goal.
It likely will involve partnering with anoth-
er organization in the community that al-
ready is working to achieve the goal.
Day believes the public is starting to get the
message.
The heart association’s Portland market
saw 66 percent growth in fundraising revenue
this year over last year.
And participation in the annual Greater
Portland & SWWashington Heart & Stroke
walk doubled in the past year, from 4,000 to
8,000.
This year, organizers hope to see 10,000 at
the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade on May 18,
the event day.
The heart walk, like other heart association
events, will be more focused on disease pre-
vention than treatment.
The heart walk is essentially a huge health
fair, with the opportunity to taste-test healthy
food, get blood pressure checked and hear the
inspiring story of the organization’s Lifestyle
Change Award recipient.
“It’s a big community event around well-
ness rather than heart disease,” Day says.
Beyond May 18, Day always has her eye on
the long-term.
In 2012, the organization made its 2020 im-
pact goals: By 2020, to improve the cardiovas-
cular health of all Americans by 20 percent,
while reducing deaths from cardiovascular
disease and stroke by 20 percent.
A year later, the organization has come
back to the goal and says if current trends
continue, Americans will see a 6 percent in-
crease in overall cardiovascular health, rather
than 20 percent. “We’re not going to hit the
goal at this rate,” Day says.
The heart association is predicting it will
meet the second part of the goal — a 20 per-
cent decrease in cardiovascular disease
deaths.
Then again, Day says, anything can change.
“When you look at unhealthy teenagers and
the rise of diabetes, all these projections could
go out the door,” she says. “People are not as
healthy as they need to be. Those risk factors
around physical activity and nutrition aren’t
being met.”
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With child obesity on rise, kids must be
urged to eat healthy, exercise more
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