Strategies to prevent heart disease
5. Get enough quality sleep
5. Get good quality sleep
7. Get regular health screenings
4. Maintain a healthy weight
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1. Don't smoke or use tobacco
2. Get moving: Aim for at least 30 to 60 minutes of activity daily
3. Eat a heart-healthy diet
4. Stay at a healthy weight
5. Get quality sleep
6. Manage stress
7. Get regular health screening tests
8. Take steps to prevent infections
4. Stay at a healthy weight
Being overweight — especially around the middle of the body — raises the risk of heart disease. Extra weight can lead to conditions that raise the chances of getting heart disease. These conditions include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
The body mass index, also called BMI, uses height and weight to find out whether a person is overweight or has obesity. A BMI of 25 or higher is considered overweight. In general, it's linked with higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure, and a raised risk of heart disease and stroke.
Waist circumference also can be a useful tool to measure how much belly fat you have. The risk of heart disease is higher if the waist measurement is greater than:
- 40 inches (101.6 centimeters, or cm) for men.
- 35 inches (88.9 cm) for women.
Even a small weight loss can be good for you. Reducing weight by just 3% to 5% can help lower certain fats in the blood called triglycerides. It can lower blood sugar, also called glucose. And it can cut the risk of type 2 diabetes. Losing even more helps lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.
