Yahoo! – Amanda Chan
“When most of us are born, we come out of the womb in pretty OK shape. We haven’t yet developed any not-so-great habits that would be a detriment to our health. Instead, bad lifestyle choices — that could then affect our hearts — are generally developed over time, and are influenced by factors like environment, family and financial circumstances, and the like. But according to a new study, that slippery slope into bad heart health can start pretty darn young. Researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine examined data from a survey of 8,961 kids ages 2 to 11 (part of the National Health and Nutrition Surveys conducted between 2003 and 2010). They looked specifically at four indicators of heart health: body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that also provides an indicator of overweight and obesity), diet, total cholesterol, and blood pressure.”(more)