Educating+Parents

Educating Parents Tori, Chris

It has become obvious that the lifestyles of young people have greatly influenced their overall health. One great example of this is the progression of cardiovascular disease--what was once something that affected the older gneerations has become a danger to people who are much younger. When asked about their diets or lifestyle choices, many teenagers today will admit that they do not have the healthiest habits. But it seems like though they know they're unhealthy, they don't make the changes necessary to fix it. This is because the youth themselves are usually not entirely responsible for their own unhealthy lifestyles. While they do choose what they may buy at school for lunch, there also needs to be support for healthy living inside their own homes. Parents who aren't well-informed about living healthily are not only harming their children by giving them a dangerous environment now, but are also setting them up to have unhealthy habits for the rest of their lives. It is //so important// that parents are educated about health and the dangers of heart disease so that they can teach their children how to be healthy now and as they continue into adulthood.

An excellent way to reach out to parents about living healthily would be through the schools. Twice a year, the schools could hire a nutritionist or cardiologist to come in and give a seminar about the dangers of heart disease and the reprocussions of living unhealthily. The first could be at back to school night, during a time slot designated for health/physical education--this would ensure that parents attended, as most parents do go to back to school night--and the second could be an optional (but recommended) seminar held in the spring. The speaker could give a presentation about how heart disease is affecting people much earlier at this point, what risk factors are for developing cardiovascular disease, and what can be done to eliminate these risk factors. He or she could go through specific steps to help the parents create their own personal family action plans, so that they have an idea about what kinds of changes to make.

One possible barrier that the school may have is finding a speaker and a way to pay for the speaker to come in. They may be able to do a fund raiser for it, or require that some of the budget money be set aside. Otherwise there is a facility for it to be held in (the school), and a time for it, too. It would definitely be worth it for schools to invest in this, because parents //need// to know what they can do to help their children and teens be healthy. If they do not live healthy lives when they're young, there are high chances they won't when they're older, either.

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