Speaking The Heart Truth®

The Heart Truth^®—a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease—created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wake up call to American women.

On Friday, February 3, 2012, National Wear Red Day^®, Americans will wear red to show their support for women's heart health. This observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in The Heart Truth's life-saving awareness-to-action movement by putting on a favorite red dress, red shirt, red tie, or Red Dress Pin. Together, we will continue to urge women to protect their hearts, as heart disease is the #1 killer of women.

The Miss Black USA Organization joins The Heart Truth^® in its efforts to eradicate heart disease. African American and Hispanic women, in particular, have higher rates of some risk factors for heart disease and are disproportionately affected by the disease compared to white women. More than 80 percent of midlife African American women are overweight or obese, 52 percent have hypertension, and 14 percent have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Please join me in this fight by attending my National Wear Red Day Celebrity Date Auction TONIGHT at 600 Main!

National Wear Red Day - February 3, 2012

On Friday, February 3, 2012, National Wear Red Day®, Americans will wear red to show their support for women's heart health. This observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in The Heart Truth campaign's life-saving awareness-to-action movement by putting on a favorite red dress, red shirt, red tie, or Red Dress Pin. Together, we will continue to urge women to protect their hearts, as heart disease is the #1 killer of women.

Please join Miss Black Louisiana USA as we start National Wear Red Day with a bang at the National Wear Red Day Celebrity Date Auction, on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2 at 8pm at 600 Main!!

 

Miss Black USA Comes to Howard University Hospital to Promote Healthy Hearts on MLK Day

The following article was posted on the Howard University Health Sciences website about our visit this weekend in DC.

WASHINGTON (Jan. 12) – Eighteen of the nation’s most beautiful women, all dressed in fabulous red gowns, will visit Howard University Hospital on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to charm patients, talk with hospital staff and D.C. area residents encourage women to take care of their hearts.

The women, Miss Black USA contestants, are in town for the annual Red Dress Photo Shoot, when the ladies adorn beautiful red dresses for a special promotional pageant photograph promoting February as Heart Month. 

But the women, who hail from Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, the Virgin Islands and other states, said they to do something to help others while in D.C.

“These young ladies, as well as the organization, strongly believe that service is a part of who we are,” said Karen Arrington, who founded the organization in 1965.  “We felt it was fitting to do something in tribute to a man who through his service changed America.  We couldn’t think of a better place to do that than at Howard University Hospital.”

After visiting with hospital patients, the women will gather in Freedmen’s Hall for a chat with local residents and hospital staff.

One message that they particularly want to drive home is that of the importance of developing healthy habits to protect hearts.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, Arrington said.  One in four women die from heart disease annually.  That is particularly true of African-American women, Arrington said.

So, for the past three years, her organization has partnered with the Heart Truth Campaign, an initiative of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“We want to encourage young women, particularly young black women, to live a healthy lifestyle to avoid heart disease in the future,” Arrington said.

“These women are not only beautiful, they’re highly intelligent,” she said.

Miss Louisiana has a master's degree in Public Administration.  Miss Maryland and Miss Michigan and have master’s degrees in public health.  Many of the women are undergraduates and Miss Nevada has a doctorate in physical therapy.

The event is free and open to the public.  Seats, however, are limited.  To register, call 202.865.1375 or email tdeyo@huhosp.org.

The Voice of The Heart Truth®

In addition to my platform of improving the state of higher education in the state of Louisiana, I am also a voice of The Heart Truth® campaign of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to make women nationwide aware of the danger of heart disease.

The Miss Black Louisiana USA Team is currently planning TWO events in conjunction with The Heart Truth®:

National Wear Red Day

On Friday, February 3, 2012, National Wear Red Day^®, Americans will wear red to show their support for women's heart health. This observance promotes the Red Dress symbol and provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in The Heart Truth's^® life-saving awareness-to-action movement by putting on a favorite red dress, red shirt, red tie, or Red Dress Pin. Together, we will continue to urge women to protect their hearts, as heart disease is the #1 killer of women.

Miss Black Louisiana USA will be starting National Wear Red Day off with a bang by hosting a Celebrity Date Auction here in Baton Rouge at 600 Main! Celebs include New England Patriot Eric Alexander, critically-acclaimed author Cece Chapman, and Miss Southern University 2011-12 Chisolu Isiadind to name a few!

Capital City Heart Walk

Miss Black Louisiana USA is proud to join the American Heart Association's Heart Walk to promote physical activity to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. We have formed a team to participate in the Capital City Heart Walk on March 24, 2012 at 8:00am beginning at the LSU Old Front Nine here in Baton Rouge.

Help us reach this lifesaving goal! Join our team and purchase the official team shirt! Click this link to join us: Join the Miss Black Louisiana USA Heart Team!

Take a look at the MBLUSA 2012 Heart Team Shirt!

The Heart Truth®

The Heart Truth^® is a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Through the campaign, NHLBI leads the nation in a landmark heart health awareness movement that is being embraced by millions who share the common goal of better heart health for all women.

The Heart Truth campaign warns women about heart disease and provides tools to help them take action against its risk factors. It is primarily targeted to women ages 40 to 60, the age when a woman's risk of heart disease begins to increase. However, it's never too early—or too late—to take action to prevent and control risk factors since heart disease develops over time and can start at a young age—even in the teen years.

The campaign message is paired with an arresting visual—the Red Dress—designed to warn women that heart disease is their #1 killer. The Heart Truth created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American women. The Red Dress^® reminds women of the need to protect their heart health, and inspires them to take action.

The Heart Truth campaign began in response to recommendations of more than 70 experts in women's health who met in March 2001 to develop a national action plan to reduce the toll of heart disease on American women. The campaign was developed with input from partner organizations and focus groups with women conducted across the country. This research revealed that most women underestimate their personal risk and do not fully understand the devastating impact that heart disease has on one's life and family. The research strongly supported the urgent need to tell women about their risk of heart disease and how to lower it.

For more information on ways you can prevent heart disease and/or stroke & info on The Heart Truth campaign click here: National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute