Here are some alarming facts:

• Only 1 in 5 Canadian children, or 20%, eats the recommended daily minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
• White bread and pre-sweetened cereals remain popular choices among this age group
• Only 28% choose more nutritional alternatives, such as high-fibre bread, whole grains and unsweetened cereals
• 33% are overweight and 16% are obese. These rates have doubled over the past 15 years.

Another disturbing fact is that only 63% of kids aged 6-12 play actively with their friends ≥ 3 times a week. The average child, in addition to being sedentary at school for 6 hours a day, also watches 2.4 hours of TV daily.

Diabetes hike

Weight management is currently the number one concern for Canadian youth — obesity rates in children and adolescents in Canada are increasing faster than in adults. Losing weight becomes harder as we age. Kids born today now face a one in three chance of developing diabetes in their lifetime. Diabetes takes away 10 years of life and adds misery through its many complications. We may be the first generation where parents bury their children due to this disease.

Achieving compliance can be difficult when patients feel immortal, as kids often do. There’s a substantial body of literature suggesting that young people are relatively immune to passive reception of health and safety information, and require a more active, interventional approach.

Children should be fed frequently throughout the day to meet their dietary needs. Ideally, they should have three regular meals a day with a nutritious snack between each. Emphasize increased activity levels over dietary restriction.

Health Canada suggests aiming to increase children’s moderate activity by 30 min/day and vigorous activity by 10 min/day. Aim to restrict recreational screen time (TV and computers) to less than one hr/day. Discourage eating in front of the TV. Kids are less conscious of natural satiety when distracted.

It’s well established that heart disease starts before birth. During adolescence, fatty streaks are commonly seen in the aorta. Autopsies of 1,000 U.S. soldiers from the Korean War found heart disease in three-quarters of them. These young men had died in their early 20s. Atherosclerosis is typically silent, without symptoms at this stage.

Adults should work hard to adopt healthy lifestyles, not only for themselves but also for the younger generation. Too many children find poor role models in their parents. Kids do what they see, not what they’re told.