The Secretariat of the Pacific Community has been using a Youth Forum in Samoa to put the case to control non communicable disease.
The Youth Forum is being run ahead of the 3rd International Conference on Small Island Developing States starting in Apia on Monday.
The Director-General of the SPC, Dr Colin Tukuitonga, told the youth the Pacific has more obese children than ever before and the region is outpacing the rest of the world in deaths from NCDs.
A spokesperson for the regional body, Mereia Carling, says while the manifestations are not typically experienced until later in life, the risk factors are present in children and young adults.
"And that is where we need to focus a preventative approach. So looking at diet, nutrition and physical activity of young people and really needing to ensure that they lead healthy lifestyles because what starts at childhood eventuates as a possible NCD in adulthood."
Mereia Carling of SPC.
