Moderator's Summary of E-discussion
"The Transition to a Healthful Lifestyle"
Week 2 (3 - 10 Oct, 2005) Development and a new generation depend mostly on the healthful transition of the ongoing generation. Uruakpa Cajetan Van Luciano of Youth at World Bank Nigeria, sees the transition to healthful lifestyle as a drift towards maintaining a life capable of generating good health of the body and mind as affected by the behaviour, physical environment and the immediate society of persons in question.
Generally NO, youths of today are more inclined to the adulterated means of living, says Lewis Adu Gyanfi from Ghana. To this extent youth are not transiting to a healthful lifestyle, everyone agrees.
Youth are not having the resources, information, knowledge and support to face health related risks points out Francisco Miranda Hamburger, the Special Adviser to Colombian Mayor on Youth Affairs, “even to avoid engaging in these risky behaviours and to face the negative consequences of these life threatening decisions”.
For youth to avoid the divert consequences of risky behaviour especially as regards HIV/AIDS conflict and drug abuse, Daniel Boatang of Global Youth Action Network, Ghana says the campaigns become more effective when the beneficiaries themselves are involved in programmes which seek to tackle the attitude of the individual youth and must be organized with the youth playing an active role.
No wonder Ewajesu Asade of the Intellect Group Nigeria recalls that Nigeria being one of the countries with the lowest level of child system has not helped in improving the health standard of young people, hence the mortality rate very high growing young people.
Young francophones “Unit E9 Jeunesse” through its spoken Richard Michel Denis says education allows youths to be framed to take care of their health. “The sustained improvement of educational system must take into account health generally, hygiene and even the protection of the environment. It must watch over the inherent values of each child according to the psychology of youth and their level of comprehension to attain a holistic known development” Unit E 9 Jeunesse conclude.
It is pertinent as noted that youths need national and international consistent and development strategies to place special emphasis on higher levels of psychosocial and capacity building programme that are pragmatic and result oriented. Bruce Chooma from Zambia is of the view that youths living with HIV/AIDS, those affected by violence, trauma, or victims of rape and other forms of injustices deserve special consideration in these directions.
This got the instant support of Charles Xavier from New York who stresses on the importance of youth to youth peer education adding that a paradigm shift to focus on development youth empowerment project where poverty rules is likely to lead to risky behaviour.
Referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC, Nils Johan Svalastog Garnes of European Good Temple Youth Federation, Egypt, solicits for necessary actions to be taken to protect children from the illegal use of narcotic substances and prevent the use of children in the production or sale of such substance as well as the negative marketing and advertising pressure that exacerbate the situation.
Conclusively, Onyinye Ndubuisi, the co founder of Development Partnership Int’l, DPI Nigeria says government do not involve youth in policy formulation process but pay lip services to the implementation of youth focus policies , thus youths are not given senses of belonging in line with the UN charter.
Supporting, Zambian born Bruce Chooma suggests that to make the desired transition to healthful lifestyle, effective young people should claim ownership to such efforts and encouraged in research to have the desired result. |
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