Heart attack in teenagers: Healthy habits for adolescents to prevent heart diseases

Heart attack can happen at any age and young, children and elderly all can have their own risk factors. But in the recent years, the cases of cardiac arrest and heart attack in young and adolescents are on rise which is a cause of concern.

Lifestyle factors play a key role in cardiac issues and the same must be addressed for a robust heart health. A 17-year-old Class 12 girl lost her life to sudden cardiac arrest while she was climbing stairs with her friends. The girl experienced sweating and breathlessness before she collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.

Experts warn that teenagers need to take care of their heart by eating healthy, doing regular exercises and finding ways to beat stress.

“Bad food habits, lack of regular physical activity and the increasing use of tobacco in various forms especially smoking are the major factors contributing to development of heart attack in teenagers. Also the mental stress is a major precipitating factor. The increasing expectations of their performance at every step be it at school, college, work place or home is also to be blamed. We always want our child to be a super performer without realising the amount of mental stress that this expectation creates,” says Dr Rakesh Rai Sapra, Director and Senior Consultant-Cardiology, Marengo Asia Hospitals Faridabad.

How to prevent heart attack in teenagers

Instill healthy habits

First thing is they should have a desire to be healthy. We should teach our children the importance of being healthy rather than wealthy. You really cannot force healthy habits. It should be a desire. First healthy habit is to choose healthy food items. Everyone knows the good and bad food items. We just need to choose them. And this habit should be inculcated from childhood. Because the process of cholesterol deposition begins in the first decade of life. So usual thought that teenage is the age of unrestricted eating and drinking is wrong. This is also the age of getting spoilt. And growth is actually better with healthy food items like fruits and vegetables.

Physical activity

Second preventive step is the habit of regular and daily physical activity. Exercise is the best and most effective way of preventing heart disease. Moderate intensity aerobic exercise is recommended for prevention of heart disease. This means brisk walking or jogging or swimming or playing outdoor games. This should be done for 30-40 minutes daily and 4-5 times a week. We should strongly encourage outdoor games in our children.

Quit smoking

Next important preventive step is avoiding or quitting smoking. It has been observed that 90% of young heart attacks occur in those who smoke. Smoking in any and every form including e cigarettes is bad. So this bad habit must be discouraged as best as possible.

Beat mental stress

And lastly one should try to reduce mental stress. From cardiologist’s perspective it is better to be second and happy than being first and stressed. It is important to teach our children the importance of leading a balanced life rather than a perfect life. Habits that we need to inculcate are being happy, kind and caring instead of winning at all costs.