By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS
fathers day_Blog
This Father’s Day, Dan Ricciardi and his two children likely will hit the trails either on their mountain bikes or on foot with their 4-month-old puppy — or both.
A single dad who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, Ricciardi puts a big emphasis on physical activity and fitness with his kids, 12-year-old Nate and 10-year-old Grace, especially given their family history of heart disease.
“I try to stay as active and fit as possible because it feels good and helps with disease risk but also gives my kids a good role model that they can look at and say, ‘Yeah, that’s something I want to continue doing because my dad did,’” Ricciardi said.
An emergency physician, Ricciardi knows all too well the consequences of neglecting physical fitness.
“I see every day on the job the results of people who have made poor lifestyle decisions, and I certainly don’t want any part of that, and I don’t want any part of that for my kids,” he said.
Ricciardi notes that his own father, now 71, developed heart disease in his mid-50s.
“That gives me motivation to try to remain active and be as healthy as possible,” he said. “That same risk is certainly conveyed to my kids.”
familybicycleIn addition to bike riding and dog walking, the family enjoys skiing and martial arts—activities that can be carried into adulthood.
“I really try to foster that attitude that fitness and activity are lifelong things, not just something you do when you’re a kid and you can sort of lay off that as an adult,” Ricciardi said.
About five years ago, Ricciardi took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu—“it’s amazing for my fitness level”—and then began assisting in a kids’ class that his son joined.
His daughter, meanwhile, adores dogs. After the family suffered the loss of their two older dogs last year, they recently got their new poodle-Old English sheepdog mix puppy, Jackson.
“It’s an incentive to get off the couch when you’re tired,” he said with laugh.
Ricciardi also tries to foster good eating habits in his kids, though that’s admittedly much more difficult.
Rather than scolding his “fairly picky eaters,” Ricciardi tries to make healthy choices available to them as much as possible.
He does so by always keeping healthy foods in the house—foods that they like to eat such as apples, oranges and strawberries.
hiking“So when they say, ‘Dad, I’m hungry, I want a snack,’ there’s always some of that,” he said. “Something that helps me as well is just not keeping those really unhealthy foods in the house — like we don’t have cookies and ice cream and chips and things like that. It’s just not in the house, so it’s not something they’re going to be eating.”
He doesn’t buy soda, either, and he limits desserts and candy.
“They’re kids, so they still want to eat that and I’m not going to say there’s none of that,” he said. “But we just try to make the best choices on a daily basis that we can.”
At mealtime, they avoid fast food and, if eating out, they try to stick with some of the healthier, less expensive dining options. That can be a challenge with the limited time frame due to the kids’ after-school activities.
“I think we all are frequently way too hard on ourselves. We have this image of ourselves being perfect parents, and when we fail to live up to that, we beat ourselves up,” Ricciardi said.
“Give yourself a pass. When you really take on those lifestyle changes and commitment to healthy living, your kids will see that and they’ll eventually pick that up too.”
Photos courtesy of Dan Ricciardi

Retrieved June 21, 2015 www.heart.org