Friday, October 24, 2008

Health Tips for October 24

Health Tip: Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Your heart's health depends on many factors, including what you eat, how much exercise you get, and even your family history.

The Cleveland Clinic lists these attributes that increase your risk for heart disease:

  • High cholesterol.
  • High blood pressure.
  • Smoking.
  • Diabetes.
  • Obesity.
  • Not getting enough exercise.
  • Being older than age 45 for men, and older than 55 for women.
  • Having a family history of heart disease.

Health Tip: Heart-Healthy Diet Should Start in Infancy

It's never too early to begin a heart-healthy diet -- even in infancy, the American Heart Association says.

Here are the AHA's recommendations:

  • Breast-feeding offers babies the right nutritional balance until between 4 months and 6 months of age, when other foods should gradually be introduced to supplement breast-feeding.
  • Avoid giving your baby 100 percent juice drinks until at least 6 months of age, then limit the amount to 4 ounces to 6 ounces per day.
  • Be careful not to give infants and young children too much food, and don't force them to eat everything on their plate.
  • Offer your child plenty of healthy foods. Even if the child isn't initially interested, continue to offer these foods.
  • Avoid offering unhealthy foods just to get your child to eat something.

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