A Healthy Family Starts At Home And It Starts With You

Join the American Heart Association’s Life is Why Family Health Challenge™ this September

 

Burlington– The American Heart Association wants families to feel they can, and are fully equipped to, make healthy choices in the home and within their everyday activities – without throwing schedules completely off or leaving wallets empty.

Today, about one in three American kids is considered overweight or obese. To help raise awareness and make parents and caregivers more conscious of their lifestyle choices during Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, the Life is Why Family Health Challenge™ will help them take the “controls” back, leaving them feeling empowered to make small moderations in their lifestyle that will lead to bigger, heart-healthy changes down the road.

Broken down into four themed weeks, the challenge is offered by the American Heart Association on its Facebook page, listed as an event, and encourages parents and caregivers, to take the challenge online, with the help of free tools and resources provided to them throughout the week in the forum. This online group also allows parents and caregivers to act as supports to one another during the challenge and participate in peer-to-peer conversations as they share their successes and address areas they feel they may be lacking.

 

The week-by-week overview of the challenge includes:

 

* Week 1 –“My Cart is Why”– The American Heart Association recommends eating a variety of fruit and vegetable servings every day. Learn how to increase your fruit and veggie consumption on a budget.  Make shopping a fun and easy activity for you and your kids.

* Week 2 – “My Glass is Why” – Sugary drinks can cost you your energy and your health, don’t let others sugarcoat your future and let’s make sugary drinks a thing of the past without feeling thirsty.

* Week 3 – “My Taste is Why” – Most adults eat more than double the amount of sodium recommended by the AHA. Tame your taste buds by reducing the sodium in your foods and on your plate.  Be sodium aware…if you dare!

* Week 4 – “My Movement is Why” – AHA recommends kids get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every day. Make physical activity fun, simple and memorable with your family.  Quick activities that easily integrate into your daily life – no matter your schedule.

 

“The Life is Why Family Health Challenge™ was crafted to be simple, quick, and fun for families to do together,” says Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., member of the VT Board of the American Heart Association, associate dean for public health and professor of medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.  “Childhood obesity is a sensitive subject; the trend often starts at home, but it doesn’t have to.  Once parents realize just how easy it is to live healthier without adding extra time to their schedules, they will be able to maintain the changes they made in September through 2015 and beyond.”

 

By the end of the challenge, families should finish out the month feeling accomplished and realizing that adopting these four areas into their everyday lives is something that’s easy to attain.

This September, join the American Heart Association, and families across the country, to make a change in your life and the lives of your loved ones. Visit www.heart.org/healthierkids to learn more about the Life is Why Family Health Challenge™ and access the free activities and templates today.  Remember, change starts at home and it starts with you as the caregiver of your home.

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About the American Heart Association /American Stroke Association

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country.  Follow us on Facebook http://facebook.com/AmericanHeart  and Twitter http://twitter.com/American_Heart.

 

The American Heart Association’s Kids Market

The American Heart Association’s Kids Market is set to educate children, and their caregivers, on the lifelong benefits of healthy nutrition, physical activity and ways to curb obesity through our numerous programs, tools and resources that make healthy-living a fun experience. Visit www.heart.org/healthierkids  for program information, tools and resources.

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