Dec. 13, 2006. 06:19 PM
At many schools, snack time includes chocolate, ice cream and potato chips. But at the Prince of Peace Catholic School, students prefer to nibble on dried fruit, cheese and raisins.
That's because the students at this east-end Toronto school have taken the lead in ensuring that healthy life choices are as much a part of their education as math and science.
A group of their Grade 6, 7, and 8 students run a leadership team that promotes proper diet and exercise. Their message has caught on, and the school is now home to health training sessions, as well as daily physical activity. Apple slices have replaced cookies at lunch, and students drink milk instead of pop.
Prince of Peace has become a model for raising healthy children.
"We are developing young people who are aware that a healthy life involves making choices," says Bob Kalisz, the school's former principal. "Choices about food, exercise, social justice and community involvement."
A staggering 185 million school aged children around the world are overweight or obese. In Canada alone, that includes a quarter of our children — triple the number from 20 years ago.
Sports and recreation have been replaced by video games and computers, while processed fast food has taken the place of fruits and vegetables. It's a recipe for obesity.
With every extra pound, children increase their chances of heart disease, stroke and type II diabetes, shortening their lives significantly.
Doctors now suggest that today's youth will have a shorter lifespan than their parents — something that hasn't happened since before the Industrial Revolution.
They've begun calling it an epidemic.
That's why Montreal's McGill University hosted a late-October think tank for 150 experts in health, education, food, leisure and sports in an attempt to develop a bolder approach to fighting childhood obesity.
After two days of meetings, they released a call to action recommending that governments, corporate and community leaders, as well as parents and children work together to stem the tide of the epidemic.
But the highlight of the think tank came from children themselves. Fourteen-year-old Andrew Lue encouraged governments, businesses and communities to give young people a voice by making them part of the solution.
That is the key. One way to overcome childhood obesity is by educating young people about proper diet and exercise. If they are empowered to make health-conscious decisions as children, they can become healthier adults.
Signs of this are popping up around the country. In British Columbia, a government committee held hearings at high schools and even set up a website asking young people for their suggestions on fighting childhood obesity. Others, such as the Toronto-based Life in Action program, tours schools encouraging youth to live healthy, active lives through innovative curriculum, motivational speaking and leadership training.
It was a presentation last year by Life in Action facilitators that started Prince of Peace students down the path to healthier lives.
This is only a start. Initiatives like these are what's needed to engage youth directly.
But none of this can happen until we acknowledge how big a problem childhood obesity is.
A recent poll showed that only 9 per cent of Canadian parents think their children are overweight — even though 26 per cent are.
"When you have 18-, 20- and 25-year-olds having heart attacks because of poor circulation, that is going to be debilitating," says Abby Bloch of the Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation, which helps fund healthy living initiatives worldwide.
Bloch warns that the impact of having young people too sick to work will cost the economy billions of dollars and change the structure of our communities.
And like the young people at the McGill conference, she believes that engaging youth is the answer.
"I don't think parents can just say to their kids `stop drinking soda,'" Bloch explains.
"Their motivation should come from understanding the impact of unhealthy eating. Kids have the ability to make their own choices."
Craig and Marc Kielburger are founders of Free the Children and co-authors of Me to We.
