February is National Heart Health Month so to help you and your colleagues aim for a healthier heart look out for the top Five Tips from the British Heart Foundation and ReSano for both employers and employees to make a change.

Heart Health Tip No.1 EAT A HEALTHY DIET

Employees:

•Include at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day

•Avoid saturated fats i.e. meat pies, sausages and butter

•Add good fats to your diet i.e. olive oil, pink/red flesh fish, nuts and seeds

•Lower your salt intake and take at least eight glasses of water per day

Employers:

•The food we eat not only fuels our body – it fuels a productive mind in the workplace!

•Consider “Fruity Fridays” and encourage staff to bring a piece of fruit to work

Ensure Healthy options are served in the canteen or provide details of local eateries where healthy options are available

Heart Health Tip No.2 GET ACTIVE

Employees:

•30 minutes of physical activity 5 times per week will strengthen your heart muscle.

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•Every 10minutes count so it doesn’t have to be all at once!!

Employers Encourage:

•Cycling to work

•Taking the stairs

•Going for walks during lunch breaks

Heart Health Tip No.3 STOP SMOKING

Employees

•Kick the Habit and Your risk of Coronary artery disease will be halved within a year. It is never too late to stop!!!

Employers:

•Ensure the workplace is 100% smoke free

•Promote smoking cessation services

•Find your Local Service

Heart Health Tip No.4 HAVE REGULAR HEALTH CHECKS

Employee

•Have your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels measured together with waist to hip ratio and body mass index (BMI) so that you can develop a specific plan of action to improve your heart health.

Employer

•Allow staff time off to visit their GP or provide an on site service to reduce any down time. ReSano can provide these services on site for health promotion days or as part of your annual health surveillance programme.

Heart Health Tip No.5 REDUCE STRESS LEVELS

Stress is not a direct risk factor for Cardiovascular Disease but if an employee is stressed they are more likely to snack on unhealthy foods, smoke, drink to excess and miss out on their 30 minutes of physical activity.

Employers:

•Encourage stress free moments in the working day by eating lunch away from the work station and having regular breaks which include stretching and exercising

•Organise social events

•Flexible working arrangements

•Control over workload and environment

•Training and good management practises

•Support during change

•Effective communication

Employees

•Stress in itself is not a clinical illness it is a term used to describe an adverse reaction to a particular situation

•Look out for related symptoms e.g. disturbed sleep, anxiety, anger.Your GP can assist in alleviating some of the symptoms but it will not treat the cause.

For further details on how we can help with a healthier workplace go to www.resano.co.uk