Well, it’s a little bit unfortunate that we don’t recognize in many cases that heart disease starts in childhood. If you think about it, children can die in car accidents and trauma in car accidents is one of the leading cause of death in children. So certainly, we wouldn’t tell a child don’t wear your seatbelt, and don’t worry if daddy is speeding and intoxicated on alcohol. We’re going to talk the okay, you would take steps to protect the child.
I think the same is true with heart disease in many cases the scourges of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes that we see in the black community start in childhood, taking a lot of processed foods, eating a lot of fast foods, not having adequate fruits and vegetables, not having children do activity. And it’s not just our perception, it’s national data. Now that children spend more time in front of the computer playing video games, than previously that increases your risk for heart disease.
So, what I would suggest is that if a parent is stretched it, that parent himself or herself has a history of hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease. Look at your children and what you can do to teach them early in life, how to live a more positive light.