MASON CITY – The local health department is trying a range of methods to try to cut down the county’s death rate from heart disease, which is 140% higher than Iowa’s rate.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, the Cerro Gordo county health department said. To prevent heart disease and increase awareness of its effects, the department of public health is participating in American Heart Health Month throughout the month of February. Cerro Gordo County’s death rate from Cardiovascular Disease is 140 % higher than the state of Iowa’s rate.
“You can make healthy changes to lower your risk of developing heart disease,” the department said this week. “Controlling and preventing risk factors is especially important for people who already battle heart disease.”
Ways they listed to lower your risk include:
- Watch your weight
- Quit smoking and stay away from secondhand smoke
- Control your cholesterol and blood pressure
- Get active
- Eat healthy
The Health Department is offering area residents several opportunities and services to aid in the prevention of heart disease.
- Follow their Dietitian, Rachel Beck’s weekly nutrition tips through our Twitter account (@cghealth).
- Encourage your worksite to implement heart healthy wellness programs with assistance from our Health Promotion Manager, Kelli Huinker.
- Enroll in a tobacco cessation plan with our Tobacco Program Coordinator, Penny McCaslin.
- Attend a senior health clinic offered by our Chronic Disease Prevention Nurse, Shirley Stephen.
For more information on how to benefit from these and many other wellness opportunities offered by the Health Department, visit the health department’s website at http://www.cghealth.com.
Sounds like the “Blue Zone” initiative is working very well in Mason City. More awards an kudo’s need to be handed out and then maybe the death toll will be down.
Get a grip, the death toll is above average because there is no work in Cerro Gordo county. The young are leaving. Those that are still here have been here for years and are dying. I wish someone would look and the underlying facts.
On the other hand, there are a lot of fat people around here.
@John-The Blue Zone Crap has nothing to do with this. The Health Department was doing this type of program long before the Blue Zone and will be doing it long after the Blue Zone is just a bad memory.