Give The Gift of Love – Be Good to Your Child’s Heart

Heart Healthy Tips for the Whole Family

Increase Fiber Intake

• Serve oatmeal for breakfast and switch over to 100% whole wheat bread
• Add beans to soups or offer as a side dish
• Place sliced fruit and veggies on the table for your child
• Offer fresh fruit smoothies using low-fat yogurt

Decrease Saturated Fat Intake

• Offer lowfat mozzarella or Swiss cheese
• Serve fish and chicken breast more often than red meat
• Stir fry and bake your meals instead of deep frying
• Serve vegetarian meals and skip the meat; your child can get plenty of protein from 1% milk, non-fat yogurt, beans, peanut butter, and tofu.
• Use spray dressings vs. traditional Thousand Island or Blue Cheese salad dressing

Increase Intake of Healthy Fats - Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats

• Cook with olive, safflower, or canola oil (use small amounts as oils are high in calories)
• Offer 2 tablespoons of cashews on top of yogurt; all nuts have healthy fat in them. (nuts can be a choking hazard so avoid offering to young children or children with nut allergies)
• Seeds can be another great source for healthy oils. You can add ground flax seeds into a fruit smoothie or a on top of their favorite cereal or salad.
• Add avocado slices to a salad

Daily Movement – Get Your Heart Rate Up

• Get the dance music on and dance with your child
• Turn off the computer games and play basketball with your child
• Go for a walk with your child
• Sign your child up for swimming or gymnastics at the local recreation department
• Prioritize your day so that movement happens – mark it down on the calendar as a reminder