Obesity

For the first time in human history, the number of overweight people rivals the number of underweight people. While the world's underfed population has declined slightly since 1980 to 1.1 billion, the number of overweight people has surged to 1.1 billion.

Alarmingly, Canadian kids are now said to be at risk of becoming the first generation in modern memory to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. In 2004, about ¼ of children and youth (2 to 17 years of age) in Canada were overweight/obese. Newfoundland and Labrador was the province with the highest obesity rate, followed by New Brunswick.

So why are children choosing the unhealthy options? The reasons are plentiful:

• Junk food may seem to look or taste better
• Healthy food is more expensive
• It can take longer to prepare healthier food
• Celebrities endorse different junk food items, which makes them seem appealing
• Junk food usually comes with incentives (toys, competitions, etc.) One out of every three toys given to a child in the US each year is from a fast food restaurant.
• Junk food is advertised more than healthy food
• Junk food is more readily available
• Sugar based foods are highly addictive
• Many other young people are eating junk food
• Older siblings are eating the junk food
• Parents don't have time to prepare well balanced meals

Whatever the reason for choosing junk food over healthier options, the evidence is clear – children are eating too many foods with too much sugar, fat and salt.

A lack of physical activity has a large part to play in undermining young people's health.

It is very easy for kids to get distracted from getting active these days. Physical education during school hours is decreasing. At present only 20% of Canadian children receive daily physical education; 41% receive one to two days per week, while 10% receive no physical education at all. These percentages worsen as students advance through the secondary grades.

At home, there are many more appealing activities that compete for kids' attention: TV, video games, the Internet, computer games, DVDs, movies…the list is ever-growing.

The good news is that the advantages of eating a balanced diet and being physically active are overwhelming.

With more physical activity and healthy eating habits, students can:

• have more energy
• have fewer behaviour problems

Decrease their risk of diseases as:

• type-II diabetes*
• heart disease
• strokes
• heart attacks

Every little bit helps. Amazingly, “a couch potato who embraces moderate exercise – walking 20 to 30 minutes a day – cuts his or her risk of a stroke or heart attack by 50 percent…”

*A child diagnosed with type-II diabetes can expect to lose 17-26 years of his/her life.

Malnutrition

While waist-lines are growing in some parts of the world, malnutrition has become a serious challenge worldwide.

Unable to afford healthy food, some families consume cheaper, less healthy options: pop instead of milk, for example. When consuming empty calories (food that has no nutritional nutrients), young people can suffer from malnutrition even though they may be eating substantial amounts. It is no coincidence that Newfoundland has the highest child overweight and obesity rate – it also has the highest child poverty rate at 21.9% .

While many people in the developed world struggle with food related issues, many people in the developing world simply do not have enough food.

Over 16% of children under five in the developing world are severely malnourished. Nearly half of these 90 million children live in South Asia.

About 400 million children -on average one in every five children in developing countries -have no access to safe water.

Every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger -related causes -one child every five seconds.