German Heart Foundation, German Society of Cardiologyand Cancer Research Center warn of obesity and cigarette addiction among increasing numbers of children. Lifestyle habits in youth lay the foundation for health in adulthood. More and more young people in Germany are at risk of suffering a heart attack later in life. This is because obesity, which along with nicotine addiction is one of the most dangerous risk factors for cardiovascular disease, is threatening to spread rapidly among adolescents. That is why the German Heart Foundation, the German Society of Cardiology and the German Cancer Research Center are calling for effective protective measures to be established in schools: Nutrition lessons must finally be given an appropriate place in the curriculum. Physical education should be given a higher priority. And smoking must also be consistently banned on school grounds in all German states.
Risk: smoking and obesity
Every year, around 270,000 people suffer a heart attack in Germany. Typically responsible is coronary artery calcification, which progresses over years and continuously restricts the oxygen supply to the heart muscle. The main culprits of such vascular calcification are cigarette addiction and obesity, which leads to high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. Increasingly, however, such risk factors are not only found in adults, but also in childhood and adolescence. “11% to 15% of school beginners today are already overweight,” emphasizes Professor Dr. med. Helmut Gohlke, chief physician at the Heart Center Bad Krozingen. “It is to be feared that Germany will follow the trend of the USA, where the proportion of overweight children has more than tripled since the 1960s,” the renowned heart specialist warns.
Enjoying exercise without the pressure to perform
The German Heart Foundation, together with the German Society of Cardiology and the German Cancer Research Center, has written a comprehensive statement containing constructive suggestions to effectively protect adolescents from obesity and cigarette addiction. An important starting point is the teaching of nutrition, which must be given an appropriate place in the curriculum of all schools. In addition, a health-promoting range of break-time meals should be provided. Instead of offering high-fat and sweet pastries, school campuses should make it possible to buy fruit, whole-grain breads and salads. Furthermore, schools need to do much more to counteract the lack of exercise, which is still one of the main causes of obesity and is widespread nowadays even among young people. “From a medical point of view, the number of hours of physical education per week urgently needs to be increased,” emphasizes Prof. Gohlke. “However, the idea of performance should not be too much in the foreground. Rather, the fun of exercise must be awakened so that sporting activities are continued in adulthood beyond the school years.”
Ban smoking in schools
More commitment should also be shown by many schools in the fight against cigarette addiction. This is because school age is the typical age of entry into cigarette addiction, from which many of those affected are unable to break away later in life, despite their best efforts. The three organizations therefore call on those responsible in politics and society to finally create the long overdue legal basis for a general smoking ban in schools in all German states. At present in many places still the principals alone or in tuning with the parents’ council can permit smoking at designated places, so that smoker corners belong in many Lands of the Federal Republic still to the everyday picture of the schools.
The dangers of obesity:
- Compared with normal-weight peers, overweight children have about a three- to five-fold increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke before they reach age 65.
- Worldwide, 22 million children under the age of five are obese.
- Nearly 20% of children in Europe are overweight or obese.
- The highest rates are observed in the southern countries of Europe. For example, in Italy, about 36% of nine-year-olds are overweight or obese.
Source: European Heart Network (EHN) – Press release, September 2004.
