NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 01 – New guidelines to promote cardiovascular health among US children have been issued by the Committee on Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and Obesity of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young of the American Heart Association (AHA).
The new guidelines, designed for use as part of regular pediatric physician visits, focus on several areas for promoting cardiovascular health, including screening for hypertension and high cholesterol, preventing obesity, and promoting physical activity and nonsmoking. The AHA report notes that rates of childhood obesity have increased two- to four-fold in the US in the past 20 years.
“We must act now or these overweight young people could be at risk of developing heart disease at an earlier age than their parents’ generation has,” lead author, Dr. Christine L. Williams from Columbia University, New York said in a press statement.
According to the guidelines, which are published in the July 2nd issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, physicians can help reduce childhood obesity by counseling children and families and by suggesting healthful diets.
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