To celebrate World Children’s Day, create posters to encourage youth engagement in addressing childhood obesity with @WorldObesity #YouthMatters #HealthyVoices
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, young people are working tirelessly to ensure the health of future generations and reduce the spread of childhood obesity. Help us reimagine the world to make sure every child has the right to grow up in a healthy and sustainable environment.
True and lasting effects to positively impact youth health, including overweight and obesity, does not only need to include young people’s input, perspective and suggestions: the initiative and leadership of young people themselves need to be part of the answer. We want to show policymakers, governments and the general public that youth have a voice and the ability to drive change.
On World Children's Day we pay tribute to the young people fighting tirelessly for healthy and sustainable food and health systems. They are ready to reimagine a better future - are you?
Tweet your entries to @OneMinuteBriefs and @WorldObesity with hashtags #YouthMatters and #HealthyVoices You can also mention #WorldChildrensDay in your tweets.
Winner’s Prize:
£100 Amazon vouchers
The winner will also be given a worldwide platform to share their work, by being featured both on our World Obesity and Healthy Voices website as well as highlighted in our global newsletter.
Top 10 entrants to be shared across all social networks: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These will also be featured in our newsletter.
Remember that as an organisation working to help change the obesity narrative and improve overall understanding of obesity, we do not want to stigmatise people living with obesity and want to dispel existing myths (i.e. ‘obesity is just about eat less move more’). Avoid the use of stigmatising language and images.
About the campaign:
The World Health Organization has identified childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Today, 158 million children globally are living with obesity, a number predicted to reach 254 million by 2030 if current trends continue. It is therefore clear that existing interventions are not enough and new solutions are now more urgent than ever.
Today, young people represent the largest part of the population globally. Around the world, we are seeing a desire for young people to get their voices heard. The recent youth strikes on climate change have shown the impact of engaged youth. But true and lasting effects to positively impact youth health, including overweight and obesity, will not only need to include young people’s input, perspectives and suggestions: the initiative and leadership of young people themselves need to be part of the answer.
COVID-19 and the measures that have had to be taken to help curb the disease have further exacerbated existing challenges for child health and nutrition. While children seem to be less severely affected by the virus, overweight and obesity still appear to be risk factors for worse outcomes in youth aged between 18 and 34 years old. Could COVID-19 be a window of opportunity and ensure we reimagine a world for youth with youth?
Check out a video on the importance of youth engagement:
https://www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices/learn/learn-videos-podcasts/youth-engagement
And on the dangers associated with weight stigma:
https://www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices/learn/learn-videos-podcasts/weight-stigma
Read more about us here:
www.worldobesity.org/healthy-voices
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldObesity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldobesityfederation
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iaso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldObesity
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSLEAM_Uw0r2eJjToIVON9A
