A damning report issued by Peel Health demonstrates clearly that
Mississauga’s parents are falling down on the job. Student
Health 2011: Measuring the Health of Peel’s Youth says three of
every four students entering high school are in such poor
physical shape that their health “is already at considerable
risk.” In short, today’s teens are overweight and inactive. They
have poor dietary habits. They smoke. While genetics and illness
result in obesity for a small percentage of kids, the
inconvenient truth is, parents are directly responsible for the
fact that almost 30 per cent of Canadian teens are too fat. The
rate of obesity among children has tripled over the past 30
years. For teens, obesity can cause emotional and psychological
problems. Later in life, it can lead to life-threatening
conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart
disease and sleep disorders. Most teens don’t outgrow their
weight problems. Rather, they continue to gain excess weight.
It’s up to parents to protect their children