Healthy Heart Program Updates
In this Issue
Summer is upon us with high temperatures and outdoor cooking at its peak. Simple meals on the grill can include corn on the cob, cooked in the husk, grilled peppers, sweet potato and white potato slices and summer squash. Consider grilling bananas, pineapple, or stone fruits like peaches and plums for dessert. Fruits and vegetables are healthful and delicious fare that gives the variety, colors and textures to accompany any grilled meat. Grilling foods provides a delicious way to meet the new dietary recommendations without the extra calories that can quickly mount in casseroles and the typical heavier winter foods.
The new MyPyramid provides a very personal means of helping you keep on track regarding your food choices and recommended amounts to eat each day. Questions to ask yourself should include: How healthy is your overall diet? Are you getting all the nutrients you need? Is your dietary pyramid lopsided? What about your level of activity?
The answers are just a few clicks away at USDA's MyPyramid Web site. We mentioned in the last Health Heart Beats where to access the information. An exciting feature of this Web site (www.MyPyramid.gov) is My Pyramid Tracker. This online interactive dietary assessment tool is designed to help consumers and nutrition professionals determine the quality of individual diet and activity levels. We need to take advantage of Colorado's cool mornings and evenings to keep active, or visit the city pool to enjoy the summer fun and stay active with your child. Check out your own pyramid and use it also as you plan for your children and the back to school events and packed lunches. Enjoy the summer bounty and stock your child's lunch box with the fresh fruits and veggies.
This issue discusses the childhood obesity concerns that are real. We all need to do our part to turn the tide and prevent more weight gain in our young people. Strides are being taken to change the school environment. You may be able to join local school groups to enact change.
Health and heart health is everyone's concern and involves food choice and activity. An interesting statistic that the American Heart Association has just released is that women's fear of heart disease has almost doubled since 2002, but breast cancer remains the single most feared disease, according to a new survey commissioned by the Society for Women's Health Research.
"Women increasingly recognize that heart disease is the biggest health threat they face over the course of their life," said Phyllis Greenberger, president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research. "Through improved research, increased advocacy and better news reporting, women and their healthcare providers are getting the message that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women."
For more information, visit www.womenshealthresearch.org/press/releases/070705.htm.
Enjoy the rest of summer!
Jennifer Anderson, Ph.D., R.D.
Food and Nutrition Extension Specialist
Shirley Perryman, M.S., R.D.
Extension Specialist
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Updated Tuesday, September 25, 2007.
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