Healthy habits in children will reduce cardiovascular disease in Argentina

Children are not a population that is taken into account when we talk about the growth of cardiovascular disease and its dreaded consequences: myocardial infarction, coronary obstruction, stroke.

However, it is the care of the cardiovascular health of the youngest children that will make this epidemiology worrying, which is today the main health problem in the world according to the Organization World Health Organization (WHO), "The only way to reduce cardiovascular risk factors is to make sure that children reach adulthood with good habits: do not smoke, have a good diet and go to school. Exercise, "summarized the cardiologist. Adrin D & Ovidio, president of the Argentine Federation of Cardiology (FAC).

"If we manage to change these habits, through dialogue, looking for effective ways to intervene, by investigating their customs to make them engage today, we will have less risk factors in the future population, "said Sandra Romero, cardiologist, pediatric surgeon and hemodynamic specialist, chair of the CAF Conbad Heart Disease Committee.

] However, Romero warned that "everywhere in our country the habits of children are very different even though the tendency to increase obesity and sedentary lifestyles is maintained".

For this reason, the FAC is launching this year, through its Cardiopaths Congnitas Committee, a national campaign for the investigation of risk factors in primary schools, through, explained Anala Molteni, chief of the FAC Press and Dissemination Secretariat, "a small funny test very easy to answer, which will allow us to have a sample of at least 120 children in each province." [19659003] This survey will be launched in schools where some CAF specialists will give instructive and instructive lectures. awareness of good habits and prevention of risk factors for the entire educational community.

"The idea is to develop prevention actions based on a current badessment of the reality of our children, because it is the one we must act on, because once the habits are established in life As an adult, it's much harder to solve the problem, "said Jorge Camilletti, cardiology specialist, nuclear cardiologist and vice-president of the CAF.

How We Move
Studies at the WHO level make physical inactivity the lack of physical activity as the fourth leading cause of death in the world, and in Argentina, according to the latest national survey of risk factors, it is estimated that 38,000 people a year between ages 40 and 79 die from causes related to lack of physical activity.

Cardiologist Paula Quiroga, Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Specialist and Chair of the CAF Cardiology Committee Exercise »

" Movement is something innate and children naturally train through the game, but today 's children are much more limited in their movements.

The consequence is a growing sedentary lifestyle that is reflected in the increase in overweight rates at an early age and in the early detection of acquired diabetes

. Ma is what we do in front of adults, so initiatives like healthy kiosks and the increase of physical education hours in some schools, are interesting initiatives, but the truth is that adults are also immersed in the problem of lack "

Cardiloga mentions the case of families with greater purchasing power who move into closed neighborhoods where they have more space and security but where children are still attached to screens of computers, mobile phones and tablets.

"It is important that we, the adults, lead by example and look for spaces where we can share with our children activities in which the movement is encouraged," he added

. Pre-sports are also limitations of physical activity, because too many studies are required "to certify that the child is able to do physical activity, while that is not the case. In fact, or what is demonstrated internationally is that if the child has no breath, or no type of symptoms or history of death in the family, it is very rare that we have a problem and that a good physical exam is enough. "

jumping rope, playing tag or riding a bike is not necessary to take as many precautions as if the child had to run a marathon:" We limit too much the possibility that a child plays, "synthesized the expert.

" Physicians must not only indicate physical activity to children who arrive with excess weight, but they must still consider habits of the child when they leave the garden or school, and look for strategies to incorporate the movement as a habit. , must be a priority even in the control of the child in good health, "said Celeste Lpez, heart child, member of the FAC, who has developed a map of the most favorable places to practice sports and l & # 39; 39 physical activity in the capital c Orrentina

By Leonardo Coscia.