A recent study that was published in the journal Circulation indicates that the American Heart Association has been correct in emphasizing that the risk for cardiovascular disease begins when we are children.
The authors of the study were from Darmouth College, Brown University, Rand Corporation and Harvard School of Public Health. They looked at how positive factors in a child’s life might positively influence their cardiovascular health.
What factors in the life of a child might help reduce cardiovascular risk when they grow up?
In this study they looked at three:
1. Ability to Stay Focused
2. Cognitive Ability, i.e. mental processes of perception, memory, judgment and/or reasoning
3. Positive home environment
How many participated in the study?
415 adults, with an average age in their early forties. The participants were first assessed when they were 7 years old, between 1959 and 1966.
What were the results?
Each of the three factors above produced a positive result (lowering risk of cardiovascular disease) and even more exciting, the benefits were cumulative. While having one of these factors was helpful, each attribute made it even better. For those having all three they were more than 4 times as likely to have positive cardiovascular health in adulthood.
Have there been other studies showing positive impacts on cardiovascular health?
Yes, there have been many. There is a wider body of research that focuses on negative factors and how they impact health, such as violence, neglect, long-term stress and fear, and chronic anger. These emotions can lead to illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and systemic inflammation.
More recently there are researchers that were more interested in the other half – the positive side.
Laura Kubzansky was among the author’s of this study published in Circulation, and this isn’t the only effort she has been involved with that focuses on the benefits of positive emotions. Read more about her work here.
“…Negative emotions are only one-half of the equation,” says Laura Kubzansky, HSPH associate professor of society, human development, and health. “It looks like there is a benefit of positive mental health that goes beyond the fact that you’re not depressed. What that is is still a mystery. But when we understand the set of processes involved, we will have much more insight into how health works.”
One of her previous studies found that emotional vitality (enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement, emotional balance in the face of stress) seemed to reduce risk of heart disease.
What is the bottom line?
You can’t go back and change anything about your own childhood, but if you have children or grandchildren – or you interact regularly with children – keep in mind that showing them love, helping them find things to be interested in, and providing ways to exercise their mind can help them find more than happiness – it can lead to a healthier heart in adulthood.
Image from Bigstockphoto.com
