Non-profit Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) has launched a pilot programme designed to help women understand and mitigate their risks of heart disease through a seafood-rich diet.
The programme, ‘Eating Heart Healthy: A Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Programme for Women’, was launched at the 10th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting and served as SNP’s Commitment to Action.
“Eating Heart Healthy is the first of what we hope to be many examples of broad-based partnerships that address America’s public health crisis,” said Linda Cornish, executive director, SNP. “We are committed to building awareness of seafood-based omega-3 deficiencies in the U.S., and we’re excited for the opportunity to show more communities how adding seafood to one’s diet can be a simple, affordable and enjoyable way to help prevent chronic diseases.”
It was conducted in partnership with two Boston-based organisations: Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH), a 2,000-resident community providing affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people of diverse backgrounds.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading cause of death for women in the United States is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Therefore, female residents of the RTH community with at least some risk of CVD were pre-screened to qualify for the programme.
The objective of the programme was to help these women build skills to incorporate healthy fats and nutrient-dense foods into daily meals, with the long-term goal of lowering their risk for CVD and increasing awareness of heart health.
Participants were surveyed, measured and attended talks on cardiovascular health and food budgeting.
According to Aileen Sauris, nurse practitioner at BWH, early feedback from programme participants has been positive. The women have expressed to her that they are “feeling more energetic and making positive lifestyle changes,” she reported.
