News — Cardiologist Dr. Gerald Berenson of Tulane University advocates preventing heart disease early by teaching children healthy lifestyles.
"We know that heart disease, obesity and bad lifestyles like smoking and drinking alcohol start in childhood," says Berenson, a cardiologist and research professor of epidemiology, medicine and pediatrics at Tulane University.
Berenson has spearheaded a $140,000 grant to continue the "Health Ahead/Heart Smart" health promotion program for 7,000 elementary school children in rural Washington Parish, La.
"This is a program for primary prevention, beginning in childhood, rather than giving them drugs after they already have heart disease, which is secondary prevention." says Berenson, who is taking the lessons learned from Tulane's long-running Bogalusa Heart Study (http://www.som.tulane.edu/cardiohealth/bog.html) and applying them to promote healthy lifestyle and nutrition choices for children.
The Bogalusa Heart Study, a flagship program of the Tulane Center for Cardiovascular Health, is one of the longest and most important biracial studies in the world on the natural history of heart diseases. Over 16,000 children and adults in the semi-rural community, black and white, have participated. Funding has been provided over the years by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute on Aging, and the American Heart Association.
Berenson, who is principal investigator of the study, is available to talk about ways to establish early prevention strategies for heart disease and how lifestyle factors contribute to one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
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