Eastern health professionals are urging college students to stay healthy now to prevent heart disease later in life.

One in four deaths occur in the United States because of heart disease, which makes it the leading cause of death for men and women, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Heart Association and other affiliated groups spread the word about heart disease prevention during American Heart Month, designated in February.

John Emmett, a professor in the kinesiology and sports studies department, said although college students are less likely to encounter heart disease at their age, what they do now has an effect on their heart later in life.

“It’s a gradual process that starts early in life,” he said. “Now is the time for people to adapt to a healthy lifestyle so they don’t get in the problem of it.”

Emmett said college students live a desk-bound lifestyle.

“That’s one big one is the sedentary lifestyle,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re in classes and studying, all of which involves sitting.”

Emmett said school can be mentally tiring, and when students have free time they may choose to “veg out” to give their brains a break instead of exercising.

However, he said lack of exercise can have a toll on your body and heart.

“The more fat there is, the more blood vessels,” he said. “That means the heart has to pump more blood to more places throughout the body, so it’s just extra work for the heart to have a bigger network to pump blood to.”

Emmett said any exercise could improve the health of a heart, including running, walking and strength training.

Rachel Jannusch, the nutrition education coordinator at the Health Education Resource Center, said every little bit of exercise counts.

She said she recommends people to do 10 minutes of exercise three times a day until they can do 30 minutes at one time.

Jannusch said even doing small things like lunges or squats while waiting for the microwave can help.

Emmett said if students choose to start exercising, they need to make sure their blood pressure and cholesterol level is at a healthy level.

“Sometimes if the blood pressure’s too high, then the heart’s just working extra hard to exercise, and that could put the heart at risk,” Emmett said. “The heart is like a skeletal muscle like any muscle in the body that when you stress it a little bit, make it work a little bit harder than it’s used to; then the heart responds by becoming stronger.”

He said the heart, therefore, has thicker walls and can pump more blood throughout the body.

Jannusch said eating healthy can be tricky on a college campus.

“The average college student eats about one to two serving of fruits and vegetables a day, when it’s recommended that we eat almost nine serving of fruits and vegetables a day,” she said.

Jannusch said eating less salt and more fiber, specifically soluble fiber, can decrease chances of heart disease.

“It’s really important to add that soluble fiber in there because that is what’s really going to help with lowering cholesterol,” she said. “Yes, sodium does play a factor into (heart disease), but the more fiber you eat, the more that’s going to remove the bad stuff, if you will, from your body.”

The Eating Well website suggested eating “heart-healthy” foods, such as yogurt, raisins, whole grains, beans, berries and pomegranates.

Emmett said eating unhealthy may be easier for students.

“Sometimes the healthiest food isn’t always the most handy or accessible,” he said. “It’s easier to go grab a burger and fries than to go make a salad.”

The CDC also recommends to limit alcohol use and to stop smoking.

Emmett said while students are unlikely to get heart disease in their college years, they can work toward future prevention now.

“The unfortunate thing is that (heart disease is) really, for the most part, a largely preventable disease,” he said. “It’s mostly just lifestyle that’s causing that.”

Jannusch said that is just the college student state of mind.

“We’re still in that period of adolescence where we think we’re invincible,” she said. “That’s just the state of life that we’re in: being college students. We don’t realize what we’re doing to our bodies now – it’s going to affect us later on.”

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].