THIS CAN be good news to many readers who believe in and act on the phrase “the truth will set us free.”
Free from what? From not knowing the danger certain things pose to our lives and that of our children.
We all want our children to lead a full life and be the brightest, strongest and healthiest achievers. But the current generation of Filipino children is increasingly under the negative influence of the junk food and drink industries.
Our children are being persuaded to eat junk food that is making them unhealthy and overweight, if not obese. As a result, they may develop serious diseases or mental problems later in life, and not achieve as much as they could.
Food and beverage corporations have been using advertising, both in traditional and social media, to push their products that have little or no nutritional value and pose dangers to children and their parents. In their ads, healthy-looking children can be seen playing or having fun while consuming food loaded with carbohydrates, sugar and salt.
In a 2021 study on digital food marketing in the Philippines, 20 of the leading junk food items were found unsafe for children. Such misleading advertising is banned by the World Health Organization (WHO).
One in 10 children ages 5 to 10 is now overweight, even borderline obese. Those between 10 and 19 years old are also becoming obese.
The WHO defines obesity as an “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” Not only do obese children lose out on leading a healthy life, but they will also become susceptible to noncommunicable diseases — diabetes, cancer and heart failure, among others — as adults.
So many young people are addicted to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok that absorb their attention and make them inactive to the point they don’t get enough exercise. Instead of playing sports and engaging in outdoor activities, they remain seated and munch on snacks, engrossed with their mobile phones and surfing the internet.
This can lure them into unhealthy relationships, causing physical and mental health problems. The impact of this will be seen in eight years, when 30 percent of young Filipinos will be overweight or obese.
They suffer the risk of developing diseases and bringing hardship to their families over growing health costs, and may even drop out of school and live as unproductive and jobless dependents.
This problem is so grave worldwide that there is even a World Obesity Day to bring attention to the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle for oneself and his or her family, based on a Mediterranean diet of fruits, nuts and legumes; vegetables; and whole wheat breads, oats, brown rice and fish. (To be continued)/PN
