LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR) – National Wear Red Day was created 21 years ago to emphasize the importance of women’s heart health. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease was the cause of one out of every five deaths in women in 2021.
The CDC also says that only 56% of women know that heart disease is their number one health risk,
to bring awareness to this, the American Heart Association created National Wear Red Day which happens on the first Friday of February.
“We hope with wear red day, people will honor survivors, they’ll honor memories of people who’ve had heart disease or suffered a stroke,” said Elizabeth Vail, the Senior Development Director of the American Heart Association, “It’s really important on these icon days that people think about their own health and take the steps that they need to to be preventative and to guard against heart disease and stroke.”
The American Heart Association also holds the Lynchburg Heart Walk, which will take place on April 12th. WFXR is a proud media partner of this event.
The walk emphasizes the importance of taking care of your health, celebrating survivors, and helping to raise money for research.
“We’ll be walking on the beautiful riverfront trail. One, two, three and four-mile route. People can walk it, they can hike it, they can run it, they can bike it. We’re so thrilled to invite the community to join us. This is our ‘Mission in Motion’ for West Central Virginia,” said Vail, “It’s a great opportunity to start the heart-healthy habit of exercise. And we have a lot of folks who come to the heart walk and say, ‘Gosh, I enjoyed this so much. I’m going to come back and keep walking this trail or make this a part of my daily routine.'”
Friday, February 7 is National Wear Red Day, join WFXR in wearing red to emphasize the importance of raising awareness for heart health.
To register or donate to the Lynchburg Heart Walk, click here.