WESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — A “Healthy Heart Fair” was held at Mon Health’s Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital, located on the ground floor between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on February 16.
The cardiology and pulmonary staff planned this fair to help teach staff and community members about heart health, and what they can do to improve it during February, which is Heart Month.
Booths were set up along a hallway wall where free screenings were provided including blood pressure, height, weight, pulse oximetry, and body mass index (BMI). Health coach and exercise physiologist, Chris Hedio, was the guest speaker who discussed the topic, “exercise and nutrition.” Hedio held his presentation for the hospital staff and community members at 12 p.m. A piece of advice he gave for those wanting to improve their heart health was “getting 150 minutes of activity every week.”
Information regarding nutrition, fitness and vaping cessation could be found in pamphlets on some of the vendor tables. Items like jump ropes, stress balls, water bottles, and step counters were all up for grabs. One table even showed the number of sugars and fats in certain foods. A few vendors that attended the event were:
- CORE
- Eye Care
- Lewis County Heart Society
- AED Training
- Family Resource Network
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for West Virginians. If you are wanting to improve your heart healthy, here are some things you can do:
- Get active
- Eat healthy
- Quit smoking and stay away from secondhand smoke
- Stay at a healthy weight
- Control your blood pressure and cholesterol
- Drink alcohol in moderation
- Manage stress
Be sure to know the signs of a heart attack in both women and men, considering some signs can be a bit different for women.
The Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital will be hosting a “Snake Chase 5K” on March 19 at the Ireland Community Building beginning at 12 p.m. If interested in registering, you can do so by clicking this link, creating an account, and clicking “find registrations” under the find races tab. Then search events by race ID, in which this race’s is: 303154. If you have any questions, call (304) 517-8612.
