Students learn importance of making healthy lifestyle choices

It might not be top of mind for most high school students, but the reality is the lifestyle choices they make now will contribute to their health when they are older.

With that in mind, the District Stroke Program of Niagara Health launched Stroke Awareness Month this month by partnering with an international expert to speak with students about the importance of making healthy choices now to prevent and reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. About 300 students attended the presentation by Dr. Robert Ross, a Queen’s University Professor in Kingston and recognized leader in the areas of obesity, physical activity and metabolism. Dr. Ross spoke to Grade 9 and 10 physical education classes from Denis Morris and St. Francis secondary schools.

The focus of the presentation was on achieving a healthy lifestyle with an emphasis on increasing physical activity and decreasing risk factors such as obesity and smoking. This includes eating a healthy diet, choosing foods that are low in sodium, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, reducing stress and having regular blood pressure checks.

“This is an exciting new initiative for our program as we have always targeted adult audiences,” says Leanne Hammond, Coordinator of the regional District Stroke Program, located at the Greater Niagara General Site in Niagara Falls. “We feel that it is so important to target the younger population to motivate them to make healthier choices now to minimize the risk of developing chronic disease when they are older.”

The presentation was so successful that the stroke program is already discussing next year’s stroke awareness event, once again involving high school students.Dr. Ross gave each student a pedometer, and they were encouraged to wear it daily. According to follow-up from one of the teachers, the students enjoyed the presentation, had great discussions in class afterwards, and couldn’t wait to try out their pedometers.

The Stroke Program team was pleased with the reaction to the presentation.

“Our typical patients are adults who have already had a stroke and have multiple chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and obesity, which put them at high risk for another stroke,” says Connie McCallum, Nurse Practitioner with the District Stroke Program. “We’ve always felt that teens were a critical target audience, but we never really knew how to reach them. This is true prevention.” The District Stroke Program of Niagara Health provides a variety of stroke-related services to thousands of patients across the region every year. «