Page 49 - Harnett Life Summer 2022

Get Active fore, BMI remains a reasonable gauge to assess weight catego-
For most adults, the target level of moderate physical activ- ries that may lead to health problems. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is
ity (such as walking) is 150 minutes or more per week or 75 associated with the highest levels of cardiovascular health.
minutes per week of vigorous-intensity physical activity. Kids
ages 6 and older need 1 hour or more of play and structured Manage Cholesterol Levels
activities per day. Non-HDL (“bad”) cholesterol, rather than total cholesterol, is a
reasonable predictor of cardiovascular risk. Non-HDL choles-
Quit Tobacco and Nicotine terol can be measured without fasting, which means it can be
Nicotine makes your heart rate and blood pressure skyrocket assessed at any time of day and reliably calculated.
while carbon monoxide and tobacco rob your heart, brain and
arteries of oxygen. There are about 4,000 chemical components Manage Blood Glucose
found in cigarettes; at least 250 of them are harmful to your When there is not enough insulin or the body does not use in-
health. Reducing your health risk means eliminating exposure sulin efficiently, blood glucose levels accumulate in the blood-
to any form of nicotine, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes and stream. Hemoglobin A1c readings measure your long-term
vaping devices, as well as limiting your exposure to second- blood glucose control. A normal A1c is below 5.7%; between
hand smoke. 5.7%-6.4% indicates pre-diabetes.

Get Adequate Sleep Understand Blood Pressure Readings
Getting a good night’s sleep is vital to cardiovascular health. An optimal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg while
Measured by average hours of sleep per night, the optimal hypertension is defined as a 130-139 mm Hg systolic pressure
level is 7-9 hours daily for adults. Ideal daily sleep ranges for (the top number in a reading) or 80-89 mm Hg diastolic pres-
children are 10-16 hours per 24 hours for ages 5 and younger; sure (bottom number).
9-12 hours for ages 6-12; and 8-10 hours for ages 13-18.
Maintain a Healthy Body Weight For more ideas to achieve optimal cardiovascular health, or to
Although the measure of body mass index (BMI) is not a per- assess your health and lifestyle risks, visit heart.org/lifes8.
fect metric, it is easily calculated and widely available; there-

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Phone: 910-893-1560