Selecciones, the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women and Macy’s Reach Hispanic Women with Message of Heart Health

Selecciones, the world’s best-selling Spanish-language magazine, joins the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red For Women and Macy’s, one of the nation’s largest retailers, in a multi-platform awareness program, Go Red de Corazón, to alert Hispanic women to the threat of heart disease. Together, they will honor Silvia Gallegos, a heart-health advocate who is making a difference and working to improve heart health in her community, on June 19 in Miami, with Lili Estefan, host of Univision’s popular show, “El Gordo y la Flaca.”

Research shows that only 29 percent of Hispanic women know that heart disease is their No. 1 killer in the United States. “That’s why the program hopes to educate Hispanic women about heart disease and empower them to take action to reduce their personal risk, said Go Red For Women national spokesperson Ileana L. Piña, MD, Professor of Medicine,/Cardiology/Heart Failure-Transplantation and Veterans Administration Quality Scholar at Case Western Reserve. “In our world, we take care of everyone else because our families are the focal point. But we have to begin to care for ourselves, so we can be there for the ones we love.”

The heart-health advocate honoree, Gallegos, helps send that message to Latina women in her community. She is manager of the community health department at the Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations. She has worked tirelessly in the Hispanic community in Dallas for more than 25 years on health issues, and now focuses on educating parents about heart health, the correlation between childhood obesity and the development of type-2 diabetes in children, and how to prevent and control both. Her grassroots health program includes exercise groups; screenings for glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist circumference and Body Mass Index (BMI); and classes on healthy living. Thanks to her dedicated efforts to promote the benefits of regular activity, a key component of heart health, more than 500 participants walk together each week in more than 25 groups in the Dallas area.

Additional program elements of Go Red de Corazón include:

* Radio media tour with Selecciones editor Genevieve Marlin-Fernandez and Go Red For Women spokesperson Dr. Ileana Piña

* An awards celebration with Hispanic influencers, including Lili Estefan, María Antioneta Collins, Neida Sandoval, and Teresa Rodríguez on June 19 in Miami to honor a heart-health advocate

* Specially created t-shirts sharing the Go Red message in Spanish to support the Go Red For Women movement – available at www.shopgored.com

Go Red de Corazón kicked off in the February issue of Selecciones with a Heart Health Guide insert from AHA, sponsored by Macy’s, that featured information about risk factors for heart disease and prevention tips. Additionally, Selecciones and AHA participated jointly at Hispanic health fairs, where they distributed heart-health guides.

“It was a natural for Selecciones to partner with the American Heart Association and Macy’s on Go Red de Corazón,” said Genevieve Marlin-Fernández, editor, Selecciones, whose own father died of a massive heart attack when she was 19 years old. “Each and every month Selecciones provides need-to-know content related to health and well-being. Educating Latinas about heart disease should be a priority for the entire Hispanic community. I am proud that, through this partnership, we are doing just that.”

As part of Go Red de Corazón, Selecciones’ readers had the opportunity to submit “heart-warming” stories about their mothers or other women influencers who made a significant difference in their lives. Five winners of this essay contest will be invited to attend the Go Red de Corazón reception.

Celebrating Macy’s fifth year as the national sponsor of the Go Red For Women movement, Peter Sachse, president of Macy’s corporate marketing says, “We are as passionate about this cause today as we were when the movement launched. Together, we have made substantial strides in raising awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of American women. As we continue to elevate the awareness among all women and men, we have developed this unique program that targets education and supports populations where the message has not been heard. Raising the profile of women’s heart health is a profound commitment for our company, and we build our support each year in both dollars and visibility for the cause.”

Go Red de Corazón hopes to reach millions of Latinas with the message to take charge of their heart health. Information about risk factors for heart disease, prevention tips, a heart-health guide created just for Latinas and free recipes can be found at www.goredcorazon.org or by calling 1-888-AHA-1212.”*

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