Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/935151
14 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • February 2018 Heart-Healthy WRITTEN BY BRANDY CENTOLANZA We all want to raise heart-healthy children in order for them to thrive throughout their whole lives. Eating well and routine physical fitness are key factors for a strong heart. "Heart-healthy children grow up to be heart-healthy adults," says Dr. Richard A. Lewis, a cardiologist and the medical director of the Mary Washington Health Alliance. "The opposite is also very true." A sedentary lifestyle combined with poor food choices can lead to obesity in children. Obese children often remain so as adults, which can lead to a host of other health problems, including the development of diabetes. "Parents are their children's best role models, " notes Lewis. "Teaching your children at a young age to eat healthy and exercise will result in them thinking that it is just normal behavior." Raising KIDS "Parents are their children's best role models, " "Parents are their children's best role models, " " Parents are their children's best role models..."