MANILA— Pushing healthy lifestyle early among school children is an important factor that will help reduce their risk of developing kidney diseases in the future, a physician at the National Kidney Transplant and Institute (NKTI) said Monday.
“There is a need to constantly promote to them lifestyle modification at an early age like engaging more in physical activities, exercise, right diet. These are important preventive measures so that they can avoid certain disease that may lead to kidney disease later,” Dr. Marc Angelo Hizon, a nephrologist at the NKTI told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Hizon said lifestyle modification is needed since a lot of children nowadays are spending longer hours in social media through their gadgets that lessen their movement.
Hizon added that sometimes these children who are so hooked on their gadgets deprived themselves of certain physical activities which make them prone to developing diabetes and hypertension.
He said this lack of physical activities, on top of unhealthy diet, further increases the chance of developing non-communicable diseases among children.
He added that such diseases can damage the kidneys which do the job of filtering the blood.
To promote healthy kidneys, he said parents should encourage their children to engage in physical activities and refrain from eating salty and sweetened foods and drinks.
“Instead of drinking sodas, let them drink water, eight to ten glasses a day to keep them well-hydrated,” he added.
The emphasis on lifestyle modification to prevent kidney disease is in line with the celebration of National Kidney Month this June. ( Leilani Junio/PNA)
