Losing-It

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Heart & Stroke

During the month of April, Connor will be raising money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.  His school will be holding a Jump-a-thon where the children will all be skipping rope to encourage healthy and active lifestyles.  It is said that more women will die, in Canada but I am sure it translates well into other parts of the world, due to heart disease, then any other disease this each year.  The following is an excerpt from their site explaining why it is important to be at a healthy weight.

Fat stored around your middle can put you at risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Almost 60% of Canadian adults are overweight or obese. Obese Canadians are four times as likely to have diabetes, more than 3 times as likely to have high blood pressure and more than two times more likely to have heart disease than those with a healthy weight.

A modest weight reduction of as little as 5% of body weight can reduce your high blood pressure and total blood cholesterol. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs, 5% would equal about 7.5 pounds. (5% of 68 kg equals 3.4 kg). Simply weighing yourself is not the only way to determine your health risk. Studies have shown that extra weight around the waistline is more dangerous to the heart than extra weight that is on the hips and thighs.

So go ahead and grab a tape, get that measurement and aim to reduce it!!! 

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