As a society, there are many things we take for granted. Food, for instance, is one of those things.

Kids come home for lunch or supper and expect to see food on the table. Adults go to work and expect to see something in the fridge or cupboard they can take for lunch. If we get thirsty at 12:30 a.m., we expect cold water to run freely from the tap (unless the town is under a boil order, then water is no longer taken for granted).

As Christmas gets closer and closer, adults get as excited about the day's spread of food as kids get excited for new toys. We salivate over turkey, and they salivate over the new Xbox 360 game.

Although we're constantly reminded about the importance of washing our hands because of H1N1, we won't be reminded of heart disease as we chow down our third helping of gravy-soaked potatoes and baked pudding, not to mention that extra large piece of cake.

Yes, we all love to eat until we're ready to burst, and we love the infamous "turkey nap" that follows, but what we're doing to our bodies is borderline horrific. However, we'll worry about clean hands before we worry about a heart attack, but that's a different story for a different day.

For whatever reason, people are getting sicker these days, and Type 2 diabetes is becoming much more prominent today than ever before. In this province alone, Type 2 diabetes has been discovered in kids as young as seven, and if this isn't enough to shock you, then maybe you should talk to a registered dietician.

Type 2 diabetes is common among seniors, but seven-year-old children? Diabetes is hereditary, but Type 2 has more to do with diet and lifestyle than anything else, which means it can be prevented. This also raises the question, what are children doing (or not doing), and eating (or not eating), that's causing this?

This question has an obvious answer. Kids aren't moving enough, and they aren't eating properly. Most people see an obese kid and automatically think they eat way too much, far too often. Although that can be the case, it could also mean that kids aren't getting the vitamins and minerals the body needs to grow and fight off diseases, and obesity is a result.

If not taken care of, and if kids go into their pre-teen and teenage years with the same unbalanced, unhealthy diet, things go from bad to worst. We won't talk about social factors, but medically speaking, the body continues to battle a losing fight. As the old saying goes, you can't take blood from a turnip, and you can't get protein from fast food and channel surfing. The body can only take malnourishment for so long until it finally gives in.

After years of unhealthy eating and living a non-fit lifestyle, expect high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart problems, diabetes, and other non-fun conditions that are controlled with bottles, and bottles, and more bottles of pills.

If that's not the life we want to live, why are we living the lifestyle that leads to it? Why not teach our children to lay off the burger and eat an orange, and why not get off the MSN Messenger and physically walk to a friend's house. Above all, playing NHL 10 on a video game system is no substitute to playing a game of hockey with a group of buddies.

But hey, if the goal is to be on workers compensation at 32 because the back and legs have given out from carrying extra weight, then have at it - but should your child live that life, too?

"But hey, if the goal is to be on workers compensation at 32 because the back and legs have given out from carrying extra weight, then have at it - but should your child live that life, too?"