A Brazilian study at a private school found children can have a significant positive impact on their parents’ health, reports MedPageToday.
Specifically, 91 percent of the parents of children who were given educational support to encourage a healthy lifestyle lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease compared to 13 percent in the control group.
For the study, students, ages 6 to 10 attended an afternoon session at school for one hour a week and learned age-appropriate information about healthy eating, tobacco avoidance, and physical activity. The sessions involved films, plays, cooking sessions, and discussions about a healthy lifestyle.
The researchers also sponsored physical activities, and instructed the teachers to incorporate the messages about a healthy lifestyle into daily activities.
Children attending the morning session at the school served as the control group and received no special instruction. Parents in both groups received written educational materials.
The study ran from March to December 2010, and included 197 children and 323 parents.
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