KIDS HEALTH: HOW DOES BLOOD MOVE AROUND MY BODY?

Blood moves around our body by a system called the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system is made up of your heart, blood vessels, and blood, and it is known as the "delivery system" for your body. Blood moving away from your heart delivers oxygen and other nutrients all over your body. After it delivers the nutrients, your blood picks up waste products so that your body can get rid of them.

Your heart is a muscle much like the muscles in your arms or legs. The heart muscle is about the size of your closed fist. It contracts and relaxes (this is how it pumps the blood) between 60 and 100 times per minute while you are at rest. Your heart will pump more if you are scared or exercising.

Your heart gets the blood to your entire body by an amazing collection of blood vessels. Your blood vessels are somewhat of a rubbery pipeline with many branches both large and small. The tubes that carry blood away from your heart are called arteries. The tubes that gently drain the blood back to the heart are called veins.

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. An adult body contains over 60,000 miles of blood vessels! That is enough to circle the globe over two times!

2. The heart of an adult pumps approximately 4,000 gallons of blood throughout the body each day!

3. Your heart will beat approximately 30 million times in one year!

4. A grown-up has about 5 quarts of blood in his/her body. A child has about 3 or 4 quarts in his/her body. There are four quarts in a gallon so to get an idea of how much blood that actually is, just think about one big container of milk!

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