Formula for healthy heart: 52-100

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) is pushing for a formula to fight heart ailments that have been on the rise due to unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

Their “52-100 formula” stands for 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, not more than 2 hours of television and computer screen time, 1 hour of exercise, 0 sugared beverages and soda and 0 smoking.

Marienella Francisco, who chairs the PHA Council on Congenital Heart Disease, raised concern that there has been an increase in heart ailments due to unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle of most Filipinos.

“Molding our children to be health conscious is a daily struggle but eventually, they will stick to the health regimen they got used to since they were young… Clean living should be a family business,” she said during a health forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians.

Pollution and chemicals also contribute to the deteriorating health condition of people, and the prevailing unhealthy diet of Filipinos reflects on the rising number of obese children in the country, according to Jonas del Rosario, former council chair.

“Obesity has increased and that can easily be explained by unhealthy lifestyle. Now, there are 15- to 16-year-olds who already have high blood pressure. When they grow old, you would see the results of accumulated unhealthy habits,” he added.

Francisco underscored that heart disease prevention starts in the womb. Every pregnant mother has to be healthy and should regularly see their doctors for pre-natal checkups.

She said there are heart disorders that develop because of the poor health condition and habits of mothers while the child is still in the womb.