BHF calls for post-carnival dancing to protect heart
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) wowed crowds with a red-themed float at Europe’s biggest street festival, Notting Hill Carnival last month urging people to protect their heart by "dancing your way to good health."
The BHF wants African Caribbean communities to keep up their carnival dancing for the sake of their hearts.
African Caribbean communities are twice as likely to have a stroke as people of European origin. Yet around one in four African Caribbean adults don’t realise their ethnicity increases their risk of high blood pressure and diabetes - major risk factors for stroke.
The charity emphasises that "Dancing is fun and sociable - and it’s a brilliant way to get active and help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke."
Thembi Nkala, Senior Cardiac Nurse for the BHF, gives her top dance tips:
1. We need 150 minutes – or 2.5 hours - of moderate intensity activity a week. That means you need to do more than just tap your toe. You should be moving enough to feel slightly out of breath but still able to sing along to your favourite songs.
2. Why not pick your favourite albums and do a 30 minute dance-athon to de-stress when you get home from work each evening. Or pick out some of your favourite tracks for three 10-minute mini sessions a day – it all adds up.
3. If you don’t want to dance alone, take a friend to a local dance class. You can do anything from salsa to ballroom or belly dancing these days.
4. Dancing is great for your flexibility as you bend and stretch into your moves. Add in jumps and leaps to improve your muscle strength too.
5. Grow your dance sessions from one track up to a whole album to increase your stamina and give your heart a really good workout.
Further information about keeping your heart healthy is available at: bhf.org.uk/africancaribbean