Let's have a healthy start to the new school year!

There’s a reason why Heart2Heart spends a lot of our time at community events. It gives us a terrific opportunity to talk to parents and their children about making healthy choices. Choices that will affect their heart health for their entire lives!

One of the frequent topics of conversation is about the fact that most adults and children are getting about three times the amount of added sugar in their diet each day. When you consider that sugar is as addictive as cocaine (scientific proof is out there) and that most of us who are now parents (and grandparents) grew up with diets laced with added sugar, you can understand why it is a difficult task to bring our sugar levels to a healthy range.

Can you believe that in our lifetime that ads, like this one, encouraged you to eat MORE sugar to lose weight? This is a real ad from an advertising campaign created by the Sugar Association in the 1970’s.

At the same time this group was learning of the links between the consumption of sugar and diabetes and obesity, they were touting their product as a diet aid!

Two great documentaries that shed light on the subject are “Fed Up” and “That Sugar Film.” Watch them as a family!

A recent study, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, showed that excessive weight at a young age increases the risk of heart failure later in life. Even being slightly overweight increases the risk by 45% as compared with normal weight. Researchers fear that the obesity epidemic will lead to more incidents of heart failure even if the obese youth is able to adjust their weight in later life.

If the current trend continues, researchers believe that 60% of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by the year 2030. As parents, we owe it to future generations to change this!

It may just sound too simple that good nutrition and exercise can make that kind of difference. Visit our table at the Back2School Block Party for some free resources to help you get your family on track!