After Two Decades, Padma Lakshmi Returned to the Runway for a Great Cause: Spreading Awareness About How Heart Disease Affects Women

Bravo's Top Chef host and super mom Padma Lakshmi has always been about female empowerment — and that includes matters related to women's health. And as the host of this past February's American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women’s Red Dress Collection show, she also helped to launch the “Watch Me” campaign — with a focus on mothers and daughters. And with Mother's Day here, it felt like the right time to remind everyone that now is as good a time as any to get checked and tell your mamas to get checked. Why? Well, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the U.S., but it can be prevented.

Eighty percent of cardiac-related events can be prevented through key lifestyle changes, such as getting more exercise and eating smarter, as well as managing blood pressure. The Watch Me Campaign puts a focus on millennial women dedicated to keeping their moms healthy — and how those mother-daughter relationships can be beneficial to their moms' health, as well as their own.

The Daily Dish post was created in association with American Heart Association, and Padma reminded everyone during her Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen appearance earlier this year just how serious the topic is. You can find out what Padma shared about her work with the campaign and walking in her first fashion show in about two decades from her WWHL appearance.

"I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable person, but I was shocked to find out that literally 1 in 3 women is killed by heart disease," she told Andy Cohen earlier this year. "And that more women in this country die from heart disease than all cancers combined; that's a really big staggering statistic to me."