Donna Querim, RN, BS, MS, JD, Nurse Clinician for the Southcoast Hospital Group Cardiovascular Prevention Program, and Amanda Szot, Charlton Hospital dietitian, have been teaching sixth-graders at the Matthew Kuss Middle School about cardiovascular risk factors that could lead to heart disease in adulthood. Donna outlined the process of plaque formation in artery walls using a 3-D model that she passed around. Amanda then talked about elements in the diet that can contribute to arteriosclerosis, suggesting many dietary choices that can effectively prevent the disease. Fall River has a much higher heart disease rate than the rest of the state, and much of this difference is due to the diet of local residents. The team has educated more than 500 children at Kuss, Henry Lord, Talbot, Keith and Holy Family schools between January and May, 2007. Classes follow the same model that has been used with Sophomores in the Durfee High School health classes that gives students a cardiovascular profile prior to conducting classes. Click here for photos of a similar session at Talbot Middle School. For further information about the program, contact Donna Querim at 508-679-7115 or by e-mail at querimd@southcoast.org.
 

(Top row, left) Amanda Szot talks about the dietary effects of some of the beverages that are popular with students such as Gatorade and power drinks. (Top row, center and right) Donna Querim talks about the increase in diabetes among young people and holds a model of various stages of plaque build up in artery walls  (Middle and bottom row, left) Students Henry Sousa, Sage Ferreira and Jeffrey Davila examine a model of arterial plaque. (Middle and bottom row, center) Students from from Allison Fitzgibbon's sixth-grade class respond to questions about their own diet and activity levels. (Middle row, right) Mercedes Fernandez and Sage Ferreira listen intently. (Bottom row, right) Jeffrey Davila and Henry Sousa listen while paraprofessional Rafaela Sousa listens in the background.