Preventive Cardiology

Over the past few decades, the childhood obesity epidemic has made it more important than ever for children to be screened for risk factors of adult heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease). Studies now show that the stage is often set in childhood for adult heart disease – the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the United States.

Children’s eating, exercising, and lifestyle habits today can have a huge impact – positive and negative – on their health down the road. But pinpointing and addressing possible problems early on can keep kids from having big health issues – like strokes, heart attacks, and heart disease – as grown-ups.

That’s where our Nemours preventive cardiology experts come in. We can evaluate and offer guidance for kids of all ages dealing with conditions that could put them at risk for heart problems (especially atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries) including:

• overweight or obesity
• high blood pressure (also called hypertension)
• diabetes
• high (elevated) cholesterol

As some of our physicians are experts in preventive heart medicine, they can perform a complete cardiovascular risk evaluation. This involves taking a thorough medical history, including family history and a comprehensive physical examination. Appropriate blood and other tests will be ordered if needed.

If your child is at risk, we can work with you to develop a personalized management plan that includes practical ways (like changes in diet, exercise, and lifestyle) to reduce your child’s likelihood of future cardiovascular disease. And our preventive cardiologists work along with your child’s primary care doctor to provide guidance along the way.