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Prevention
Preventing congenital heart disease, beyond genetic counseling, is almost impossible. However, good habits developed in childhood, can prevent future problems when they enter adulthood.
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Today's children are more overweight and inactive than any other generation. The best way to prevent future heart disease is activity. This, combined with a healthy, balanced diet, can't be beat for giving you the best chances of a long and healthy life. And, active people report that they “get more out of life” than those who are more sedentary. |
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 Nutrition Tips
If you think it's tough to lose weight as an adult, try putting a child on a diet!
- Stressing “healthy”, providing wise choices and limiting high-calorie low-nutrition snacks are the ways to go.
- DON'T NAG!
- Depending on the child's age, involve him or her in meal and snack planning Food labels are a great learning tool for understanding the differences between foods as far as serving sizes, calories, fats, nutrients etc. They make a great math lesson, too!
- Always serve from the stove (except vegetables and salad).
- Make your house rule that no snacks are forbidden, but a parent must dispense them. This could eliminate eating out of the box and help you monitor how much and how many servings your child is actually eating.
- Replace sugary soda and juices with milk, ice water or spritzers (juice with seltzer water).
- Though school lunches usually provide a well-balanced (albeit higher calorie) menu, you have no control over what foods your child actually eats from the offering. Try packing lunch 3 days, and letting your child “buy” 2 days.
- Make dinner lighter on the days s/he buys lunch
- Buy any snacks in individual serving packages when possible. It may be more expensive, but less will get eaten.
- Check out natural food stores and read labels.
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