recommends that kids get an hour of exercise
five days a week. Although that number may
seem daunting, Gaskin says that even 30
minutes of exercise a day would be great for
young people.

Clauss also says that the exercise can be
broken up throughout the day into smaller
increments. She recommends that especially
for older kids, who are often more busy,
scheduling exercise can help ensure they
still do it.

“If they put in their schedule 30 minutes of
a walk or treadmill time, it’s more likely to get
done than if it is not on the schedule,” she says.

You don’t have to be an athlete or play a
sport to make exercise a consistent part of
your lifestyle.

“Encourage the kids to turn on some music
and dance to a few songs. They can do some
situps and pushups. They can jump rope in
the house, run up and down stairs or run
around and play in the snow,” Gaskin says.

“All those things are ways of getting some
regular exercise.”
Additionally, try to limit screen time and
replace it with exercise that everyone in the
family can do together.

“Instilling limitations on screen time
as a family—and in turn embracing daily
activities that encourage movement, without
singling out certain individuals who might be
at higher risk due to weight—is important,”
Favilla says.

A heart-healthy diet includes multiple fruits
and vegetables each day, a decent amount of
fiber and a limit of fried foods.

To make your child’s diet a bit more heart
healthy, forego the sugar-sweetened beverages.

“A lot of kids love juice; it’s nice and sweet,
but that bleeds into sodas and energy drinks,”
says Sarah Clauss, an advanced imaging
cardiologist at Children’s National Hospital
in Washington, D.C. “Try to encourage water
and low-fat milk as much as possible.”
Be creative in making healthy foods more
appealing to your kids.

“Serve it in a creative way, like making
smiley faces or some unique presentation, to
make it more appetizing to them,” Clauss says.

Peter Gaskin, a pediatric cardiologist at the
University of Maryland Children’s Hospital
and assistant professor of pediatrics at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine,
says that when you can make changes in
diet gradually, you should always keep
moderation in mind.

“There are many ways that you can eat
healthy foods and have tasty healthy foods,”
he says. “I’m not saying that you can’t have
a steak or red meat, but don’t expect to do
that three or four times a week. If you do that
once a week that’s fine.”
Maintaining a healthy diet is easier to do
when everyone in the family does it together.

“Cooking and eating meals as a family,
when possible, is one of the ways children
can feel supported and empowered in these
habits,” says Emmanuelle Favilla, an attending Getting good sleep is also necessary for a
physician with the division of cardiology at healthy heart.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“You really need a good night’s sleep to
help with your body’s metabolism and to
maintain a healthy weight,” Clauss says.

Parents play an important role in making
sure that their kids get regular sleep.

Regular exercise is also a crucial part of
“Make sure your kids have some kind
maintaining a healthy heart.

“Your heart is a muscle you need to of routine—that they’re going to bed at a
condition and keep well-tuned,” Gaskin says. good hour, getting enough sleep and not
The American Academy of Pediatrics having screen time right before bed because
Sleep Exercise
30 Washington FAMILY FEBRUARY 2022
that’s going to make it hard to fall asleep,”
Clauss says.

Holistic Benefits of
Heart Health
Adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle at an early
age pays off in the long term.

“Our cardiac health as children and
adolescents, as evaluated by proxy measures
such as weight and blood pressure, reflects
our risk of heart disease as adults,” Favilla
says. “Thus, it is never too early to promote
a heart-healthy lifestyle to our children.

(It’s) instilling healthy habits for them to
grow with and in turn more easily sustain in
adolescence and adulthood.”
Many occurrences of heart disease that
adults develop start as kids. But parents can
take preventive measures early on.

“It’s very important if you can get your
kids screened for cholesterol. The American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids
get screened between 9 and 11,” Clauss says.

“Get the screening and take care of it as best
as you can early on because that is reversible,
but once you get to be older, it’s not.”
One can avoid many health issues by
developing heart-healthy habits now.

“If you have a heart-healthy lifestyle in place,
you avoid things like obesity, hypertension and
having an abnormal glucose profile leading to
metabolic syndrome or diabetes,” Gaskin says.

“By working on these things from childhood,
it’s easier to develop those good habits rather
than having to make changes in your lifestyle
to fix something that has already happened.”
By making heart-healthy habits a part of
your family’s routine, kids will pick them up
easier, and adults will also see the benefits
in themselves.

“A lot of what I talk about with my families
is modeling good behaviors,” Clauss says.

“I want parents to eat these foods, too, and
the parents to exercise and limit their screen
time. I want them to be role models.” n
KIDS RUNNINH: TOMWANG112/E+/GETTY IMAGES ; SLEEPING: FLY VIEW PRODUCTIONS; FAMILY, SKYNESHER E+/GETTY IMAGES
Diet