World Heart Day

World Heart Day: September 29

 

World Heart Day was launched in 2000 to promote global awareness about the burden and preventability of cardiovascular disease (CVD) including heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases.  CVD is now the leading cause of death worldwide, claiming 17.3 million lives each year, or around 30 percent of all global deaths in 2008.  Eighty percent of deaths from heart disease and stroke occur in low and middle-income countries.

 

World Heart Day 2012 focuses on preventing CVD in women and children.  CVD is the number one killer of women, causing nearly one-in-three female deaths each year.  A child’s risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the future depends in part on factors present from fetal development through childhood; unhealthy diets, obesity, lack of exercise, and smoking – including secondhand smoke and poor air quality – can all increase the risk.  Children also are at risk of CVD from congenital heart defects and from rheumatic heart disease, which is still common in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

 

Healthy behaviors such as not smoking, using alcohol only in moderation, consuming a healthy diet, and engaging in regular physical activity can help to prevent or control these risk factors. Children who learn heart-healthy behaviors at an early age are more likely to maintain these habits into adulthood, and this is the best way of preventing heart disease and stroke later in life.

 

For more information about World Heart Day or CVD: