Toronto (ECN) - According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, children are eating less fruit and vegetables than ever before.
"Our 2009 report card on children's health in Ontario reveals that Ontario's children are still facing unhealthy childhood due to a lack of physical activity and poor eating habits," said Stephen Samis, the foundations director of health policy.
"If this situation doesn't improve soon, this generation of children, through no fault of their own will experience shorter life expectancy than their parents because of illnesses such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease."
According to the 2009 Heart and Stroke Report on the Health of Ontario Kids, just a decade ago, one in five children ate five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily
"It is staggering to think that the children in the streets and schools outside this building are calculated to have a life expectancy that is now less than that of their parents," said Dr. Andrew Pipe of the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Ottawa.
"This is unheard of virtually in the history of evolution of the human species, and it clearly is a call for action."
"This report should serve as a wake-up call that the health of children is not making the grade," said Dr. Pipe.
Things need to improveThe foundations believes that if thinngs are not corrected now, we may see a generation of children with a higher risk of developing things like diabetes and heart disease.
"This report should serve as a wake-up call that the health of our children is not making the grade," Dr. Marco Di Buono, director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, said in a statement Wednesday.
"Despite mandatory nutrition labelling and a new edition of Canada's Food Guide, we're not seeing bigger gains in healthy eating."
The survey involved 1,189 Ontario parents of children aged six to 12.
