“I usually eat at Subway, McDonald’s, A&W, KFC, probably about two to three times a week,” says Jessee, a Grade 12 student at Roland Michener Secondary.
He may not know it, but like many other students, the dietary choices this student makes today could have serious long-term consequences. According to a study published in Pediatric Clinic of North America, sedentary lifestyles and the consumption of high energy, high fat foods are putting youth at risk for heart disease, diabetes, weak bones, and poor mental health.
Type 2 diabetes, once considered a disease of later life, is now being diagnosed in primary school children. There are teenagers who have been diagnosed with atherosclerosis, a disease caused by fat clogged arteries.
“Portions are bigger. It’s the super-size phenomenon,” says Lisa Gerard, a nurse and diabetes project coordinator at the Slave Lake Community Health Centre. “For a few cents more you can get double.”
She says that in Canada, type 2 diabetes has been diagnosed in children as young as six years old.
At one time, nearly all new cases of diabetes in children were type 1, an unpreventable form of the disease that some are simply born with. Not anymore.
In the United States, 45 per cent of children newly diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, a preventable form of the disease. Eighty-five per cent of those children are overweight.
Here in Canada, things are no better. A University of Alberta study found that half of boys and girls ages seven to 13 do not get the minimum number of servings for all four food groups. More worrying, they also ate fast food or restaurant meals two to four times a week.
By the time they become teenagers, they may have developed seriously poor eating habits.
Part of the problem for teenagers may be groupthink or peer pressure. It is difficult to avoid fast food when eating with friends.
Asked whether friends influence his choice of where to eat, Taylor, a Grade 11 student, says, “Yes and no. I know that McDonald’s is a pretty popular spot to go for students, so it’s usually pretty busy.”
Further barriers youth face are a preference for the taste of junk food, and the effort required to prepare healthy meals. Fast food is cheap, quick, and appeals to the palate of young people.
“We all go out and we want something that’s quick that tastes pretty good, so we just go to a McDonald’s or some other fast food place in town,” says Stephen, a Grade 12 student.
“They got the McDeals every day of the week. A lot of people go there,” says Jessee.
“When kids get older, parents’ best efforts could be futile,” says Gerard. “For kids that have their own money, a mom can encourage them, but they can go to 7-11, or vending machines at school.”
She would like to see more done within the schools, though, to remove barriers to healthy eating.
“We need more effort in removing vending machines from schools,” says Gerard. “At least, if they walk to the convenience store, they’ve walked, rather than getting it just down the hall.”
The convenience of school vending machines, however, may be more than some can resist.
“It’s pretty cool, or pretty good. It’s nice to just grab a bite to eat, a bag of chips or a chocolate bar or something, and head into class. As long as the teachers don’t see it, it’s pretty good,” says Taylor, a grade 11 student.
Some attempts have been made to put healthier choices into school vending machines, but some of the effort may be misguided.
“Some things are disguised as healthy choices when they’re not,” says Gerard. “Schools are full of fruit drinks that are full of sugar. Parents are fooled into thinking children are making healthy choices when they’re not. They need to be aware Fruitopia has sugar.”
Stephen, a Grade 12 student, tries to make healthier choices at the vending machine.
“They have a few different kinds of healthier foods. They got these little Sunkist things. I don’t know what you’d call those little fruit snacks. Those are good. They have energy bars,” he says.
However, students may not realize that a fruit roll-up is high in sugar, and an energy bar can pack a high calorie wallop regardless of how many vitamins it has.
“They’re there for the people that want them. It’s their choice,” says Latham, a Grade 10 student.
Things are being done to improve the health of young people, though. The Alberta government recently updated its physical education policies and will now require that students get 30 minutes of daily physical activity. It will be mandatory for students up to Grade 9 starting next September, and for students up to Grade 12 the year after.
According to Health Canada only 30 percent of girls and 40 per cent of boys across Canada regularly exercise.
“We are not encouraging dieting for children. That’s not the way to do it,” say Gerard. “When people stop dieting they haven’t changed the way they eat, their lifestyle.”
And that is what needs to change before Canada’s youth pay the true cost of the junk food they eat.

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