2024-01-07 05:00:00
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The foundation for a healthy heart is laid in childhood. Parents can actively influence this if they follow these recommendations.
In 2021, cardiovascular diseases were responsible for more than a third of all deaths, with around 340,000 deaths. A risk factor for these diseases is high blood pressure. It precedes illnesses such as heart attacks or strokes by years and decades and ideally should not occur at all.
High blood pressure can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle, specifically: through more exercise, a healthier diet and reducing excess weight, but also through stress reduction and mindfulness. According to Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz, head of the Chair of Preventive Pediatrics at the TUM School of Medicine and Health in Munich, the course for this is set in early childhood. “Parents can lay the foundation for their children’s health well into old age.”
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5 tips for a healthy heart. © YAY Images/Imago/BuzzFeed
Tips to prevent high blood pressure and illnesses in childhood
One Analyse At the end of 2022, data from the Commercial Health Insurance Fund (KKH) showed that the number of obese children had increased by 27 percent within ten years. This is also why the German Society for Pediatric Cardiology has one Guideline published, which contains concrete tips for parents.
1. Sufficient physical exercise
60 minutes per day of moderate to intensive activity and at least three days of intensive activity including strengthening the muscles are recommended.
2. Enough sleep
Nine to twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep per night with set sleep and wake times.
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3. Healthy eating
Two to three portions of fruit and vegetables per day as well as little sugar, salt and unsaturated fatty acids.
4. Reduced media consumption
Screen time should be a maximum of 30 to 60 minutes per day. Even from teenagers onwards, two hours a day should not be exceeded.
5. Stress reduction
Inclusion of meditation and breathing exercises from kindergarten age.
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“Parents should not use new media to keep their child quiet”
The recommendations for media consumption and stress reduction are relatively new. Screen time influences health indirectly – children who sit in front of the computer or cell phone for long periods of time move less. In addition, high media consumption can increase stress levels: constant availability or the “pressure” to present yourself “perfectly” lead to stress.
But how can the recommendations be implemented in everyday life at a time when children and young people are almost constantly looking at their cell phones? “As with nutrition or exercise, it is important that parents model the right behavior for their children, i.e. conscious media consumption. If a mother who is taking her baby for a walk in the stroller actually looks at her cell phone the whole time and barely maintains eye contact with the child, something is wrong,” says Oberhoffer-Fritz.
“Parents should also not use new media to quiet the child or use screen time as a ‘reward’. Because that increases the appeal.” A student examined the consequences of parents’ cell phone use on their children in the “BabyLab”.
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