How to Prevent Heart Disease.

Heart disease is the leading cause of the death in the United States. It is also a major cause of disability. There are many things that can raise your risk for heart disease. They are called risk factors. Some of them you cannot control, but there are many that you can control. Learning about them can lower your risk of heart disease.

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What are the heart disease risk factors that I cannot change?

• Age. Your risk of heart disease increases as you get older. Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older have a greater risk.

• Gender. Some risk factors may affect heart disease risk differently in women than in men. For example, estrogen provides women some protection against heart disease, but diabetes raises the risk of heart disease more in women than in men.

• Race or ethnicity. Certain groups have higher risks than others. African Americans are more likely than whites to have heart disease, while Hispanic Americans are less likely to have it. Some Asian groups, such as East Asians, have lower rates, but South Asians (mostly Indians) have higher rates.

• Family history. You have a greater risk if you have a close family member who had heart disease at an early age.

What can I do to lower my risk of heart disease?

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce your chances of getting heart disease:

• Control your blood pressure:  High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. It is important to get your blood pressure checked regularly - at least once a year for most adults, and more often if you have high blood pressure. Take steps, including lifestyle changes, to prevent or control high blood pressure.

• Keep your cholesterol and triglyceride levels under control: High levels of cholesterol can clog your arteries and raise your risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack. Lifestyle changes and medicines (if needed) can lower your cholesterol. Triglycerides are another type of fat in the blood. High levels of triglycerides may also raise the risk of coronary artery disease, especially in women.

• Stay at a healthy weight:  Being overweight or having obesity can increase your risk for heart disease. This is mostly because they are linked to other heart disease risk factors, including high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Controlling your weight can lower these risks.

• Eat a healthy diet:  Try to limit saturated fats, foods high in sodium, and added sugars. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. The DASH diet is an example of an eating plan that can help you to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, two things that can lower your risk of heart disease.

• Get regular exercise: Exercise has many benefits, including strengthening your heart and improving your circulation. It can also help you maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol and blood pressure. All of these can lower your risk of heart disease.

• Limit alcohol:  Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure. It also adds extra calories, which may cause weight gain. Both of those raise your risk of heart disease. Men should have no more than two alcoholic drinks per day, and women should not have more than one.

• Don't smoke:  Cigarette smoking raises your blood pressure and puts you at higher risk for heart attack and stroke. If you do not smoke, do not start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. You can talk with your health care provider for help in finding the best way for you to quit.

• Manage stress:  Stress is linked to heart disease in many ways. It can raise your blood pressure. Extreme stress can be a "trigger" for a heart attack. Also, some common ways of coping with stress, such as overeating, heavy drinking, and smoking, are bad for your heart. Some ways to help manage your stress include exercise, listening to music, focusing on something calm or peaceful, and meditating.

• Manage diabetes:  Having diabetes doubles your risk of diabetic heart disease. That is because over time, high blood sugar from diabetes can damage your blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart and blood vessels. So, it is important to get tested for diabetes, and if you have it, to keep it under control.

• Make sure that you get enough sleep:  If you don't get enough sleep, you raise your risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. Those three things can raise your risk for heart disease. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Make sure that you have good sleep habits. If you have frequent sleep problems, contact your health care provider. One problem, sleep apnea, causes people to briefly stop breathing many times during sleep. This interferes with your ability to get a good rest and can raise your risk of heart disease. If you think you might have it, ask your doctor about having a sleep study. And if you do have sleep apnea, make sure that you get treatment for it..

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Parents can help children learn social skills. 

Learning to get along with peers is difficult. Children’s social worlds are filled with different settings, constantly changing interactions, various individual personalities, shifting group dynamics, spoken and unspoken communication…  

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It’s a lot for kids to navigate! 

Recent research suggests that parents can play an important role in helping children learn social skills (e.g., Gregson et al., 2017; Mikami et al., 2010; Poulin, Nadeau, & Scaramella, 2012). Parents know their children intimately and can offer on-the-spot, personally relevant guidance to help children learn how to make and keep friends. 

Here are some ways to be an effective friendship coach for your child.  

Talk about thoughts and feelings

Talking about thoughts and feelings helps children develop a “theory of mind,” which means the ability to recognize and predict mental states and use them to explain social behavior. When we talk about thoughts and feelings with our children, we help them become aware of the hidden subtext that runs through every social interaction. Children with better-developed theories of mind tend to behave in kinder ways and are more accepted by their peers.

You can use real-life experiences, books, TV shows, or movies to help your children recognize their own reactions and imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.

 

Start with just labeling feelings: 

“You’re feeling disappointed because…” “He’s excited about…” “She’s worried that…” As your child gets more adept at understanding feeling labels, encourage perspective taking by asking questions such as “How is she feeling?” or “Why is he sad?” 

Eventually, you can help your child infer connections between feelings and actions by asking questions such as “Why do you think she did that?” or “What would help him feel better?”

Create opportunities for friendships to grow:

Your child can’t find friends sitting home alone. Kids make friends by doing fun things together. You may want to help your child figure out what types of activities he or she would enjoy doing with peers. This could involve organized activities such as a club or sport or more informal hanging out at the playground after school or on the weekend. 

One-on-one play dates are a great way to deepen friendships. If your child can’t think of anyone to invite, the teacher may have some suggestions. Your child doesn’t have to be soulmates with kids before inviting them over. Just having enjoyed each other’s company is enough. The invitation is a compliment that says to the other child, “I like you enough to want to spend more time with you!.

Another option to consider is having a family game night. Invite another family with similar-age children over after dinner to play a lively game. Apples to Apples, Uno Attack, Taboo, or Catch Phrase are examples of ones to consider. After the game, serve dessert, then the kids can go off together while the adults chat. A family game night requires minimal effort but it’s a great way to build connections, for you and your child.

Avoid harsh criticism

Dealing with children who struggle socially can sometimes be frustrating. You may worry and wonder, “Why doesn’t she just listen to me?” or “How many times do I have to tell him?” You may be tempted to warn your child, “If you keep this up, no one will want to be around you!” Don’t say these comments. Harshness makes it harder for our kids to listen to what we say.

Our opinions matter deeply to our children, and we must be mindful that we can hurt them with careless words. Make sure your expectations are reasonable for this particular child, at this particular time. Be pleasable. I don’t think any of us ever outgrow our wish for our parents to be proud of us.

Assume that your child has good intentions and is dealing with problems the best way he or she can right now. Focus on progress rather than perfection. Concentrate on one skill at a time instead of trying to correct everything that your child does wrong. 

Set the stage for success by asking your child before entering a challenging situation, “So, what do you need to remember when you’re…?” Kids are good at tuning out lectures, but thinking of a goal ahead of time can help your child keep that goal top of mind. 

If you must correct your child in front of others, do so discreetly. A pre-arranged secret signal might be a useful reminder. 

Stay in the background

It may be tempting to try to intervene to fix friendship problems for your child. However, it’s far more effective to help your child think through how to respond. A warm and noncontrolling approach makes it easiest for children to hear parental suggestions.

Don’t step in to solve a friendship problem that your child could solve. You can ask your child questions, make observations, suggest possible options, even practice difficult interactions with your child through role play, but let your child be in charge of deciding what to do and taking action. 

When you stay in the background, you show your faith in your child’s ability to work things out with your support.

Enjoy your child’s company

As parents, we need to find that delicate balance between treasuring our children as they are and helping them grow in their own special way. Although parent friendship coaching can be very helpful for children, it’s also important to have times when we set aside the goal of trying to help our children improve and just have fun together.

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