Raising Healthier Generations: Why Childhood Is the Time to Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases
For many Ghanaian parents, childhood illnesses are often associated with malaria, diarrhoea, measles and other infectious diseases. These remain important health concerns. However, the health challenges facing children are changing, with conditions and risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including obesity, asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes, becoming growing concerns.
Although many NCDs become more apparent later in life, some of the habits and risk factors associated with them can begin during childhood. What children eat, how physically active they are, how much time they spend on screens and how well they sleep can all influence their health as they grow.
Less Play, More Screen Time: A Growing Concern
Children today spend increasing amounts of time on phones, tablets, television and video games. Traditional games such as ampe, chaskele, pilolo and football once kept many children active, but these activities are becoming less common in some communities.
Technology has many benefits, particularly for education and communication. However, children also need regular opportunities to move, play and interact with others.
Walking, cycling, dancing, skipping, playing football and participating in age-appropriate active household chores are simple ways to encourage physical activity. Families can also make active play a regular part of daily life.
What Children Eat Matters
Sugary drinks, biscuits, pastries, fast foods and other highly processed foods are increasingly common in children's diets. Frequent consumption of these foods, particularly when combined with physical inactivity, can contribute to unhealthy weight gain and increase the risk of health problems later in life.
Healthier choices can be encouraged by offering fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, eggs and fish. Nutritious Ghanaian foods such as kontomire, beans, garden eggs and local fish can form part of a balanced diet.
Water should be the preferred drink, while sugary beverages should be limited.
This does not mean that children can never enjoy treats. Rather, healthier foods should become the norm, while foods high in added sugars, salt and unhealthy fats are consumed less frequently.
Healthy Habits Begin at Home
Children learn from what they see. Parents and caregivers can help establish healthy habits by:
- Encouraging regular physical activity.
- Limiting excessive and prolonged sedentary screen time.
- Providing nutritious meals and healthy snacks.
- Making water the preferred drink.
- Encouraging adequate and regular sleep.
- Avoiding unhealthy foods as routine rewards.
- Making healthy activities part of family life.
- Avoiding children's exposure to tobacco smoke and other harmful substances.
These changes do not have to happen all at once. Small, consistent changes can gradually become lifelong habits.
Everyone Has a Role to Play: A Shared Responsibility
Protecting children from future health problems is not the responsibility of parents alone. Caregivers, schools, communities, health professionals and policymakers all have important roles to play.
Communities need safe spaces where children can play and be physically active. Schools can promote healthy eating and regular physical activity while creating environments that support children's overall wellbeing. Health professionals can educate families about prevention, healthy lifeclasss and early detection of health problems. Policymakers can support programmes and environments that make healthy choices easier and more accessible.
Most importantly, parents and other adults can lead by example. Children are more likely to embrace healthy behaviours when they see those behaviours being practised by the adults around them.
The Future Starts Today
Raising healthier generations is not only about preventing disease. It is about giving children the opportunity to grow, learn and live healthy, productive lives.
The choices and environments we create today can influence the health of future generations. We must therefore encourage our children to eat well, stay active, get adequate sleep and develop healthy habits from an early age.
Preventing NCDs should not begin when a person is already an adult and diagnosed with a disease. Prevention can begin much earlier—in our homes, schools, communities and everyday choices.
Healthy children today can become healthier adults tomorrow—and a healthier generation means a healthier Ghana.
By Samuel Afoakwah Afranie, BMS, MPH