Your Heart Health at Every Age: A Lifelong Journey

Your heart is a muscle that works hard for you every single second of your life. From the day you're born until you're much older, your heart is busy pumping blood to every part of your body. Keeping your heart strong is important at every stage of life, and the good news is, you can always take steps to build a healthy heart – no matter how old you are.

Little Hearts (Children and Adolescents)

For kids and teens, keeping the heart healthy is all about being active and building good habits.

Exercise: For younger children, it's about active play. Run, jump, play sports, ride bikes – get them moving for at least an hour daily. Teens should aim for regular physical activity, too. This builds a strong heart and strong blood vessels.

Concerns: While rare, congenital heart disease (heart problems you are born with) affects some children. However, not all congenital heart diseases are diagnosed at birth, so regular check-ups with a doctor help ensure everything is developing well. Teaching heart-healthy habits such as eating nutrient-dense foods starts early.

Growing Hearts (Young Adults)

In your 20s and 30s, you might feel like your heart is invincible, but these decades are a key time to keep up those good habits and prevent future problems.

Exercise: Keep moving! Whether running, dancing, hiking or playing team sports, staying active helps maintain a healthy weight and strengthens your heart muscle.

Concerns: This is when early risk factors, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol, might appear. It's a good time to know your family history of heart disease and talk about it with your doctor so they can measure your lifetime risk of heart issues.

Midlife Hearts (Middle-Aged Adults)

As you reach your 40s and 50s, paying attention to your heart is even more critical. This is when the risks for serious conditions can go up if your heart health isn’t managed carefully.

Exercise: Try brisk walking, swimming or cycling regularly. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.

Concerns: Risk increases at this age group for conditions such as coronary artery disease, where the blood vessels supplying the heart can narrow, affecting blood flow. This can lead to a heart attack. Keeping an eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol levels becomes very important. Heart-smart nutrition, including lots of fruits and vegetables and limited unhealthy fats and salts, is key.

Wise Hearts (Seniors)

For seniors, protecting your heart means staying active safely and managing any existing health conditions.

Exercise: Low-impact activities, such as walking, swimming, water aerobics or gentle yoga, are great. These workouts help maintain strength, flexibility and heart health without putting too much strain on your joints.

Concerns: Seniors should remain on top of their blood pressure and cholesterol. These and other heart disease risk factors are increasingly being linked to brain health. So protecting your heart may lower the risk for dementia or cognitive decline.

You Can Improve Heart Health at Any Age

Regardless of age, keeping your heart strong is always a good idea. Eating a balanced diet, staying active, not smoking, managing stress and getting regular check-ups are all part of a heart-healthy lifestyle. Your heart works hard for you every day – make sure you take good care of it.

Find a Union Health provider who can help you maintain heart health at any age.