The National Heart Foundation of Australia (known as the Heart Foundation) is a charity established in 1959. Its activities have been funding cardiovascular research, supporting health professionals in their practice, developing health promotion activities, informing and educating the public and assisting people with cardiovascular disease. It describes its mission as "to reduce heart disease and improve the heart health and quality of life of all Australians through our work in Risk Reduction, Support, Care and Research."

History

The organisation emerged after

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

had been effectively removed as a health concern and after the successful establishment of the

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a Canadian charity dedicated to advocacy, education, and the funding of research surrounding heart disease and stroke. Nomenclature In November 2016, the organization re-branded as Heart & Stroke a ...

. A group of concerned Sydney professionals meet with the trustees of R.T Hall Trust and members of the New South Wales government health services in July 1958 and decided to form the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

Programs

Supporting and informing

The foundation provides people with, and at risk of,

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

information and guidance on how to minimise their risk. Annually, the organisation distributes more than 1.3 million heart health brochures. Each year, the Heart Foundation's information service and its website provides heart health information to thousands of Australians.

Partnerships

The foundation supports and works with all levels of government, other health organisations, the media and community groups and food manufacturers to implement policies and programmes that attempt to improve the cardiovascular health of Australians. This includes programmes on cardiovascular health risks such as smoking or physical inactivity, through to recovery and rehabilitation and diet. The foundation has partnered with the Health Star Rating System by assisting in monitoring the uptake and compliance of the Health Star Rating on applicable products. The foundation's collected data has been used in the formal reviews of the Health Star Rating and provided help in making the system more effective and accurate.

Improving care

The foundation claims to take the latest research and creates practical treatment tools for health practitioners. The foundation attempts to bridge gaps in care through programs specifically targeting those Australians at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Building healthy communities

The foundation supports local governments that change neighbourhoods to create healthier communities. Initiatives by councils, such as building cycleways and upgrading walking paths are eligible for Heart Foundation Local Government Awards (to be renamed Heart Foundation Healthy Community Awards in 2011).

Promoting awareness

Through community education campaigns and media activities, the foundation promotes lifestyle changes to improve the heart health of Australians. Recent examples include the Warning Signs campaign, which raises awareness of the symptoms of a heart attack and of the need to phone 000 so that sufferers can get early treatment to have the best chance for survival.

Dietary advice

The foundation's "Healthy Eating Principles" include plenty of fruit, vegetables and

whole grain A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated ...

s with a variety of protein sources such as fish and seafood, lean poultry with a restriction on

red meat In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw (and a dark color after it is cooked), in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before (and after) cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified ...

. The foundation recommends a diet low in

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

and trans fat whilst rich in monounsaturated and

polyunsaturated fat In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsa ...

s such as avocados, unsalted nuts, seeds and oily fish like salmon and sardines. The foundation have noted that milk, yoghurt and cheese can be eaten as part of a heart-healthy diet but butter, cream and ice cream are not recommended as heart-healthy."Dairy & Heart Healthy Eating"
heartfoundation.org.au. Retrieved 25 October 2023."Full-fat dairy is OK, says the Heart Foundation, but watch your meat intake"
healthdirect.gov.au. Retrieved 25 October 2023. A 2017 review by the Sax Institute for the National Heart Foundation of Australia on dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease outcomes found that the

DASH diet The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a diet to control hypertension promoted by the U.S.-based National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Depart ...

is the most beneficial dietary pattern to reduce CVD risk in healthy populations. Another review published the same year that examined the evidence for the association between dietary fat and cardiovascular disease found that saturated fat consumption is associated with higher mortality and that replacement of saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat decreases risk of cardiovascular disease events and mortality. In 2018 the Sax Institute for the National Heart Foundation of Australia reviewed evidence on the heart health effects of eating unprocessed

and

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

. The report concluded that "the totality of evidence reviewed in this report suggests that white meat (poultry, turkey and rabbit) have relatively neutral, whereas unprocessed red meat (beef, pork, veal, and lamb) likely have moderately adverse outcomes on cardiovascular effects, particularly related to weight gain and stroke risk." In 2019, the foundation lifted their limit on full fat

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s and

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

for the general population. The recommended limit remains for those with heart disease, high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes. The foundation published a position statement on full fat dairy products, "Based on current evidence, there is not enough evidence to recommend full fat over reduced fat products or reduced fat over full fat products for the general population. For people with elevated cholesterol and those with existing coronary heart disease, reduced fat products are recommended." The position statement also noted that the "evidence for milk, yoghurt and cheese does not extend to butter, cream, ice-cream and dairy-based desserts; these products should be avoided in a heart healthy eating pattern". The foundation's 2019 position statement on dietary fat and heart healthy eating recommends replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat and whole grains to lower risk of a cardiovascular disease. The foundation's 2021 position statement on

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and heart health for the general population is to reduce consumption to no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day which supports the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded res ...

's recommendation levels. The foundation has stated that alcohol consumption is harmful to people with atrial fibrillation so such individuals may need to drink less or none at all."Alcohol & Heart Health"
heartfoundation.org.au. Retrieved 3 November 2023.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* {{authority control Health charities in Australia Organizations established in 1959 1959 establishments in Australia Heart disease organizations Foundations based in Australia Medical and health foundations