Fruits and Veggies Early - Prevent Heart Disease Later

A recent study found that children as young as 9 years old may already be exhibiting health problems such as high blood pressure that put them at risk for heart disease and stroke as adults.

We know that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help ward off atherosclerosis in children as they grow into adulthood, and can remediate even advanced conditions of heart disease.

Atherosclerosis is a condition in which plaque -- consisting of fat, cholesterol, and other particles -- builds up inside the arteries, narrowing and hardening the arteries. This narrowing and hardening makes the heart work harder to pump blood, increasing blood pressure, at the same time.

It's a process that can take many years. However this study shows that what we eat, even in childhood, can help prevent the condition.

We’ve long known that increased vegetable and fruit intake are good for our health in general, and good for our cardiovascular health in particular.

For the study, researchers looked at lifestyle factors and measured the pulse of 1,622 persons who took part in the ‘Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns’ Study.
The participants ranged in age from 3 to 18 when the study began, and were followed for 27 years.

The researchers also assessed "pulse wave velocity" -- a measure of arterial stiffness.
The researchers found that those young people who ate fewer vegetables and fruits had stiffer arteries. But those who ate the most vegetables and fruits had a pulse wave velocity much lower than people who ate fewer fruits and veggies.
Besides low fruit and vegetable consumption, other lifestyle factors such as lack of physical activity and smoking in young adults is also associated with pulse wave strength in adulthood.

"These findings suggest that a lifetime pattern of low consumption of fruits and vegetables is related to arterial stiffness in young adulthood," said a news release from the American Heart Association. And that "Parents and pediatricians have yet another reason to encourage children to consume high amounts of fruits and vegetables."

"While it is never too late to start a healthful diet to prevent heart disease, it is certainly never too early,” Continuing, “The best way to cultivate healthy blood vessels in adults, it seems, is to feed our children well."

In the second study, Finnish researchers found that children as young as 9 who had the most risk factors for heart disease -- including high levels of cholesterol, high blood pressure and a greater body mass index -- faced a greater risk of thicker carotid artery walls as adults, an early sign of heart disease.
"Of the individual risk factors, childhood obesity was the most consistently associated with vascular changes across different age groups," he said.
Prevention of atherosclerosis should start in childhood, adding, "We should make all efforts to keep our kids fit, not fat."

By age 12, children in the highest heart disease risk factor group had a 48 percent increased risk of thicker carotid arteries, and 56 percent by age 15.
This, and other studies clearly show that heart disease can begin early in childhood and adolescence, and manifests later in life.
Remember, Health is a Choice.