By tf-lawyer.com As we step into the new school year, excitement is palpable among students with the resumption of regular physical activities. Exercise’s role in health is especially crucial for children in their growth and development stages.
Yet, there’s a concerning trend: more children are being diagnosed with what’s termed “the three highs”—high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar. This increase is largely due to unhealthy lifestyle habits, particularly a lack of physical activity, which heightens the risk of cardiovascular issues. We spoke with Huang Huiling, director of the Cardiovascular Prevention Assessment Center at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, who noted that the prevalence of these risk factors among adolescents is disturbingly high, often going unnoticed. She cautions that high-intensity, uniform physical training without proper precautions can lead to serious injuries.
Huang emphasizes the need for parents and educators to stay vigilant for warning signs related to heart health during physical activities. She recommends conducting heart safety assessments to identify individuals at risk, ensuring that students can participate in physical activities safely.
Since 2019, Huang and her team have been running “Heart Safety” campaigns in schools, offering educational talks and free heart screenings for both students and teachers. They have been surprised to discover that cases of “the three highs,” and even “the four highs” (which includes high uric acid), are not rare among children. “While a single screening cannot offer a definitive diagnosis, it serves as an important alert to doctors, schools, parents, and the children themselves that these conditions are not merely ‘elderly diseases’ but critical health issues that need attention,” she said.
In a joint initiative with the Guangdong Provincial Youth League in late 2022, Huang’s team found that only around half of the surveyed adolescents reported exercising regularly. Alarmingly, about 70% admitted to a diet high in sugary drinks and sweets. The lack of physical activity is a key contributor to health problems in this age group, as regular exercise can help manage weight and decrease the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even cognitive decline. It also positively impacts mood, concentration, coordination, and can help relieve eye strain.
However, Huang highlights a concern: some children with weaker physical constitutions push themselves to perform better in sports due to misconceptions about exercise. “Since every individual has different lung and heart capacities, we need to avoid forcing high-intensity workouts on children who already struggle with cardiovascular fitness,” she cautioned, noting that exceeding personal limits heightens the risk of exercise-related heart issues.
For children exhibiting any risk factors, Huang highly recommends heart health evaluations before they engage in sports. These factors may include a family history of cardiovascular issues, such as close relatives who have experienced heart failure or early-onset cardiovascular disease. Additionally, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia are also important considerations.
Huang elaborated that heart preventive measures involve various assessments, including 24-hour Holter monitoring, echocardiograms, exercise stress tests, and cardiac output monitoring. The aim is to identify potential risks during physical activity and provide tailored exercise recommendations to prevent complications. These heart safety evaluations should be accessible to anyone before any form of exercise, not just for competitive sports.
To ensure safety during physical activities, Huang advises children to monitor two key indicators: heart rate and blood pressure. It’s normal for a teenager’s heart rate to peak at around 170-180 beats per minute during exercise, but this increase should be gradual. A sudden spike from 80 to 160 beats indicates a potential problem. Similarly, while temporary increases in blood pressure during physical exertion are common, a rapid rise or failure to return to normal levels after resting should be a cause for concern.
Huang stresses that if children experience symptoms like chest pain or difficulty breathing during exercise, they should stop immediately. For mild feelings of dizziness or increased heart rates, reducing workout intensity can help alleviate these symptoms.
She suggests that if a student feels dizzy during gym class, a teacher should escort them to the nurse for a blood pressure check. For more severe symptoms like chest tightness or rapid heartbeat, an ECG may be necessary to assess for underlying heart issues, with referrals to specialists when appropriate.
“Every vacation season, about a quarter to one-third of the teenage patients I see in my clinic arrive after sudden fainting, heart palpitations, or chest discomfort,” Huang noted. While some of these cases can be detected through routine screening, others may necessitate more comprehensive evaluations.
“Last year, I treated a ninth grader who presented with chest pain during gym class. Initial tests looked normal, but this ultimately led to a fainting episode that revealed a congenital artery malformation. Fortunately, we caught it in time,” she shared.
Huang encourages everyone to prioritize physical activity while avoiding prolonged periods of inactivity. She recommends moderate to high-intensity exercise, avoiding sugary drinks and unhealthy foods high in salt and fat. Additionally, maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes adequate sleep and good mental health is crucial. Ultimately, she underscores the importance of recognizing and acting on potential heart health warning signals in children.
