With Hoops for Heart Everybody Wins

Heart&Stroke Hoops for Heart is an in-school fundraising basketball program. Funds raised supports vital research that leads to breakthrough medical advances, social change and health information.

STUDENTS: Get active shooting hoops and earn cool prizes by fundraising.

TEACHERS and SCHOOLS: Give your students a chance to lead the day. By participating in this fun event, your school will earn points to go towards school resources like sports equipment, school supplies and electronics.

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH.

It is important for youth to learn about heart health at an early age.

Did you know?

• 59% of Canadian kids and adolescents were reported to consume less than the recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruit.
• Over 30% of kids are exposed to secondhand smoke, most often in their own homes. The evidence suggests that an unhealthy lifestyle is putting youth at serious risk. We know that healthy habits are developed early in life. By staying active now, maintaining a healthy body weight, and learning to make sensible choices, youth can help decrease their risk of future heart disease and stroke.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & OBESITY

Did you know?

• Half of children and youth aged 5 to 17 are not active enough for optimal growth and development.
• Children are 40% less active than they were 30 years ago.
• In 2004, 26% of Canadian children and adolescents aged 2-17 were overweight or obese
• Since 1981, obesity has tripled among Canadian children and is rising.
• On any given day, 30% of North American kids visit a fast food restaurant.

Why the increase in obesity? The main reason is a lack of physical activity, coupled with a poor diet and genetic factors. It's vital to reverse the trend, because obese children are more likely to grow up to be obese adults - who are at greater risk of developing heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, and of dying from these diseases at a younger age.

These stats and other poor lifestyle habits are causing kids to develop risk factors of heart disease that previous generations didn't experience until mid-life or later.

It's possible that children growing up in Canada today could be at risk of having a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Why? Because overweight children are at a substantially increased risk for heart disease and stroke. Here are the facts:

• 1 in 4 Canadian children and adolescents aged 2 to 17 is overweight or obese
• Obesity rates among Canadian children and adolescents have tripled over the past 25 years
• Only 50% of Canadian kids are active enough daily to ensure basic, healthy, development
• Health professionals have speculated that this may be the first generation of children who may not outlive their parents
• Only 20% of children aged 6 to 12 get their required daily intake of vegetables and fruit
• Over a million kids are exposed to secondhand smoke every day - most often in their own homes
• More Canadian children are overweight and obese than in the past
• 50% of children and youth aged 5 to 17 aren't active enough for optimal growth and development

These stats and other poor lifestyle habits are causing kids to develop risk factors of heart disease that previous generations didn't experience until mid-life or later.

Making a difference coast-to-coast

Fundraising with programs like Hoops for Heart has enabled the Heart and Stroke Foundation to continue vital research that leads to breakthrough medical advances, social change and health education right across the country.

Across Canada, Canadians are eating healthier thanks to enhanced food labeling and Health CheckTM shopping choices. We're also fighting to eliminate artery-clogging trans fats from processed foods that are available almost everywhere - including our schools.

In Ontario, Spark Together for Healthy Kids is Ontario's newest major public initiative aimed at reducing the deadly impact of childhood obesity on a future generation and the health of our communities.

We're an Ontario-wide initiative helping to inspire individuals, families, communities, businesses, and government to spark collective change to help children become more physically active and eat healthier foods.

In Manitoba, we have funded research into the premature birth of infants and its potential association with a type of brain damage (considered a stroke) that can cause cerebral palsy or learning disabilities.

In British Columbia and Yukon Territories, curriculum-based HeartSmart KidsTM programs encourage children to make heart-healthy lifestyle choices in fun, challenging and engaging ways.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, a 2005 five-school pilot project to promote physical activity and good eating habits in the school is expanding. As of Spring 2007, the program had reached 54 schools in the province.

In Quebec, On the road to a happy heart - an activity kit that is easily integrated into lesson plans - allows teachers and their students to take a virtual voyage that teaches them the importance of getting active and eating well.

In New Brunswick, we've developed "A running start to a happy heart" daycare nutrition program that is teaching our children in New Brunswick at a young age to eat healthy and be active, and can positively affect their health by decreasing their chances of developing serious health conditions later on in life. The goals of this initiative are to improve the nutritional value of meals children receive while in a daycare and educate parents, childcare workers, kitchen staff and children about the importance and benefits of healthy eating.

In Saskatchewan – we're helping build healthier school environments by offering toolkits and resources so that schools and school divisions can develop and implement healthy food policies and smoke-free school zones

In Nova Scotia, Heart&Stroke Walkabout™ is working with youth, mentors and researchers to develop a program to help make walking the easy, fun and cool choice for youth across the province.

Hoops for Heart is just one of many great initiatives of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. To learn more about the Foundation, click here.

Meet a survivor!

When Erin Konikoff was nine months old, her mother Bonnie decided to wean her from breastfeeding. When she handed Erin a bottle, she grasped it with her left hand, but her right hand remained closed in a fist. Concerned, her mother and father Michael approached her doctor, who referred them to a pediatric neurologist. A CAT scan revealed that Erin had had a stroke while still in the womb, affecting her right hand and leg.

From the time she was one, Erin received physiotherapy to help her sit up, crawl, stand and walk. She also had to learn how to hold a pencil with her left hand. Gradually, Erin was able to participate in almost all of the activities that most kids do. Now 13, Erin can snowboard, dance and shoot hoops – sometimes with the help of her older brother, Harrison. She is also a straight A student.

"Living with a stroke has always been a challenge," says Erin, "but never a barrier. I do most things with one hand, like getting dressed, playing cards and typing. I am so proud of myself for being able to live with my stroke like I do. It always surprises me how well I am able to do anything I put my mind to."

"I wanted to tell my story to show that because of the research that has gone on in the past and continues today, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has made it possible for kids like me to live full and productive lives."